Making Tracks: The Rise Of Blondie

Debbie Harry is probably the single most interesting and important woman in the history of rock. Well, maybe not, but all rock bios should start with hyperbole, and if anyone deserves hyperbole, it's Harry. This photo book/biography works wildly well in both its media. Chris Stein's pictures of Harry, Blondie, and the New York rock scene are not only fun in a nostalgic way, they're damn good pictures that you can stare at for hours--even without having taken the drugs that inspired them. And the story of Debbie Harry's life, as written by Harry and rock critic Victor Bockris, is two steps past weird. Who knew that Debbie was a flower child in the '60s and saw the Doors, Janis Joplin and the Velvet Underground live at some of their most celebrated shows? Or what about Debbie's stint in the psychedelic folk band Wind in the Willows? Or that Debbie was 35 years old when Blondie hit it big? Her career crosses and overruns so many moments and people in rock history that reading her bio is like driving through rock & roll heaven. And, frankly, the fact that the book is full of photos of the cutest rock star in history doesn't hurt. A must for fans of Harry and historians of rock. --James DiGiovanna