In 1977, The Clash and The Sex Pistols released their d?but albums, Vladimir Nabokov died and Ian Penman had his first review published in the NME. Britain's leading weekly music paper was just about to embark upon its most glamorous era, with Penman its star writer. Perming Barthes with dub, booze and Walter Benjamin, Penman achieved something few music writers can even dream of - he changed the way the subject was written about. From Amis to Zappa, Tricky to De Niro, Fassbinder to Michael Jackson, cartoons to curry, S&M to heavy metal, this brilliant collection brings together for the very first time Ian Penman's journalism.