The Lou Reed Archive is now available for research at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts located at Lincoln Center! The collection arrived with 225 books, which were inventoried and then boxed into what is now The Lou Reed Book Collection. The collection includes books by Lou, books about Lou, and books concerning poetry, art, photography, tai chi, and more.

         

These books are accessible through onsite research; however, if all you want to do is read like Lou, then you might be interested in the list below! These are Library copies of books in the collection, now available to borrow at your local NYPL branch!

Six Books to Start Your Lou Reed Book List 

The Place of Dead Roads by William S. Burroughs

This 1983 novel is the second in a trilogy beginning with Cities of the Red Night  and ending with The Western Lands. If you enjoy the American West, gunslingers, shoot-outs, and intergalactic warfare then this is the book for you.

 

 

The Autobiography and Sex Life of Andy Warhol by John Wilcock

John Wilcock, co-founder of the Village Voice, interviews actors Naomi Levine, Taylor Mead, and Ultra Violet; scriptwriter Ronnie Tavel and photographer Gretchen Berg; art dealers Sam Green, Eleanore Ward, and Leo Castelli; poet Charles Henri Ford; and musicians Lou Reed and Nico, all in Warhol's first oral biography. 
 

Feed-Back: The Velvet Underground by Ignacio Julià

Julià followed the band's career for years, interviewing the band members including Lou Reed, John Cale, Moe Tucker, Doug Yule, Nico, and Sterling Morrison. 

 

Factory Made:  Warhol and the Sixties by Steven Watson

Interested in Warhol and the icons that passed through his studio,The Factory, during the 1960s? Read about the art, music, films, and photographs created in the studio. 

 

In the 1920s, Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thomson created an opera that became the longest-running opera in Broadway history. Learn more about the creation of Four Saints in Three Acts and how it revolutionized modernism.