Lou Reed Wrote a Book of Poetry, and You Can Finally Read It

Do Angels Need Haircuts?' features 12 poems and short stories

March 2, 2018 9:00 am

Happy birthday Lou Reed!

In honor of what would have been the rock icon’s 76th birthday, independent reissue record label and book publisher Anthology announced a collection of Lou Reed’s early poems, Do Angels Need Haircuts?

In 1970, Reed was 28 and had just quit the Velvet Underground to focus on poetry. This collection, which comes with a 7” of a reading at St. Mark’s Church as well as rare scene photos  from the time, is an essential time capsule of ‘60s and ‘70s rock and roll — especially when you consider that these poems are being published for the first time outside of the Lou Reed Archive, a public exhibit at the New York Public Library that opened in 2017.

Do Angels Need Haircuts? will be available in April 2018 (preorder here), and features an afterword by musician and artist Laurie Anderson, the widow of the late musician.

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