One of rock music's most enigmatic and confounding artists is here revealed as never before through the diffuse lens of his most extreme work: Metal Machine Music. Initially dismissed as fake avant-garde or a calculated insult, over the course of a half century it has acquired a growing number of open-eared music fans, becoming a kind of secret handshake of hipness. Lou Reed: Metal Machine Mystic is the first book ever to focus on Metal Machine Music as the key to understanding its creator. Entertaining and provocative, drawing on extensive research and fresh interviews, it reveals the secrets of the album's making and its purpose, as well its immediate aftermath, astonishing rehabilitation, and continuing influence. Legendary musician, songwriter Lou Reed holds an unusual place in rock and roll's pantheon. His profound musical influence since the1960s, through The Velvet Underground and his subsequent solo work, extends beyond his album sales to a degree not attributable to many other artists. Over twelve years after his death, this two-time inductee in the Rock ' n' Roll Hall of Fame remains defiantly inscrutable, an object of fascination to die-hard fans and newcomers alike. Epitomizing this phenomenon is one of the most divisive pieces of music ever made: Metal Machine Music. Three weeks after its release in 1975, it was withdrawn from the market by RCA Records, following what has been called the largest return of purchased albums in the history of the recording industry. For the first time, author David Holzer has peeled back the layers on this strange and estranging work to reveal the genesis of the recording and the other side of Lou Reed, here revealed as a spiritual seeker with a profound belief in the power of one's inner spirit.