• The Sun & the Moon & the Rolling Stones

  • By: Rich Cohen
  • Narrated by: Rich Cohen
  • Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (259 ratings)

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The Sun & the Moon & the Rolling Stones  By  cover art

The Sun & the Moon & the Rolling Stones

By: Rich Cohen
Narrated by: Rich Cohen
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Publisher's summary

A gritty, one-of-a-kind backstage account of the world’s greatest touring band, from the opinionated music journalist who was along for the ride as a young reporter for Rolling Stone in the 1990s

One of the Top Five Rock Biographies of the Year (San Francisco Chronicle)
One of the Best Books of the Year (Kirkus Reviews)

A book inspired by a lifelong appreciation of the music that borders on obsession, Rich Cohen’s fresh and galvanizing narrative history of the Rolling Stones begins with the fateful meeting of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards on a train platform in 1961 - and goes on to span decades, with a focus on the golden run - from the albums Beggars Banquet (1968) to Exile on Main Street (1972) - when the Stones were at the height of their powers. Cohen is equally as good on the low points as the highs, and he puts his finger on the moments that not only defined the Stones as gifted musicians schooled in the blues, but as the avatars of so much in our modern culture. In the end, though, after the drugs and the girlfriends and the bitter disputes, there is the music - which will define, once and forever, why the Stones will always matter.

“Fabulous.... The research is meticulous.... Cohen’s own interviews even yield some new Stones lore.” (The Wall Street Journal)

“[Cohen] can catch the way a record can seem to remake the world [and] how songs make a world you can’t escape.” (Pitchfork)

“No one can tell this story, wringing new life even from the leathery faces of mummies like the Rolling Stones, like Rich Cohen.... The book beautifully details the very meaning of rock ’n’ roll.” (New York Observer)

“Masterful.... Hundreds of books have been written about this particular band and [Cohen’s] will rank among the very best of the bunch.” (Chicago Tribune)

©2016 Rich Cohen (P)2016 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Cohen has arrived as one of the greatest social and cultural historians of postwar 20th-century America. By gracefully blending fastidious reporting, lucid commentary, and an unabashed love for his subjects, Cohen has managed to write about gods and elevate them into human beings." (Richard Price)
"This is a completely fascinating book. Rich Cohen locks into everything that's crazy and passionate about the Rolling Stones while never losing his clear-sighted presence of mind. Funny, soulful, impeccably reported, and beautifully written, this will be the book about the Stones that will last." (Ian Frazier)
"Cohen is one of the select few to be invited behind the curtain of the Rolling Stones' real-life rock 'n' roll circus, but he never loses the perspective of having once been a kid staring in awe at his brother's poster of the band." (Alan Light)

What listeners say about The Sun & the Moon & the Rolling Stones

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

My eyes hurt from constantly rolling them.

Any additional comments?

The Stones are one of the greatest bands of all time and their story deserves to be told by someone who can weave great stories into the telling of the band's history. Rich Cohen has not done this. This book could have been authored by a college sophomore in between writings of bad poetry and melodramatic emo songs. My eyes hurt from constantly rolling them after yet another bad and wrung out simile.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

If you only read/listen to one book about the Stones, this should be it. Very well researched and written.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Best Biography

What did you love best about The Sun & the Moon & the Rolling Stones?

I have been listening to many Rock biographies and this is the BEST yet.I liked the writer's tone and vocabulary he used. It kept my interest to the end and I decided that there was enough meat in the story to listen to it again.I don't normally feel that way. This book is different and is great as an audible presentation.

What other book might you compare The Sun & the Moon & the Rolling Stones to and why?

Keith Richards "Life"

What about Rich Cohen’s performance did you like?

I liked the energy of the story and the inside knowledge of the band that he shares.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent story of the greatest rock band the world has ever known

Rich Cohen's role as a fan and a journalist placed home in the unique position to tell the story of the rise and fall and rise and fall and rise of the Rolling Stones. Brilliantly written. Narrated by the author. The audio is all properly accentuated and paced wonderfully. I will buy this book for others, who like me, are true fans who believe in the post of the blues.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An glimpse into the real story of how it was to be

Couldn't stop once i started, never wanted it end
A chance meeting of Mick & Keith on a London train changed the world of music and a generation

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

WOW. Good book

WOW. Good read. Give it a try. Good stone's history. Try reading this book soon.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Best Stones book yet

Recalls a lot of the old Stones stories that we've read in other books. The main difference is that Cohen attempts to put the story of the Rolling Stones in the perspective of a Gen-X'er.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story

Excellent telling of the history of one of rock and roll's most iconic groups. The good the bad and a lot of ugly.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Very good, sometimes great.

I went through this book pretty fast. The insights were very interesting, and both the writing and the narration were smooth and pleasing. The organization of the book sometimes seemed a little off, with some gaps that left me asking why an entire subject was missing. Maybe my only real complaint was how the book just ended fairly abruptly, for the most part ending at the release of Exile on Main Street. I would have been very happy if the book covered all the way up to the present, but the author's enthusiasm for the band seems to die when the band sort of died itself in the late 70s. Still, I'm very happy I bought this audiobook.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Eye-Rolling Ahead

There are some interesting anecdotes here if you can get past the fanboy metaphors written in pink ink with hearts. And the author narrating? Terrible mistake. His performance is jumpy with distracting inflections. There are many better -objective, focused, comprehensive -biographies of the Stones. Read those, skip this.

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