As he morphed from proto-punk to elder statesman of the avant-garde, Lou Reed's work maintained an undeniable vividness and raw beauty. Beginning with his formative days in the Velvet Underground and continuing through his remarkable solo albums like Transformer, Berlin, and New York, this career retrospective of Reed's lyrics is a worthy tribute to one of popular music's most visionary artists. This book includes Reed's preface to the earlier edition, plus contributions by Laurie Anderson, Martin Scorsese, Nils Lofgren, and James Atlas.