Sticky Fingers

The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine

De: Joe Hagan

Narrado por: Dennis Boutsikaris

The first and only biography of Jann Wenner, the iconic founder of Rolling Stone magazine, and a romp through the hothouses of rock and roll, politics, media, and Hollywood, from the Summer of Love to the Internet age.

Lennon. Dylan. Jagger. Belushi. Leibovitz. The story of Jann Wenner, Rolling Stone's founder, editor, and publisher, is an insider's trip through the backstages of storied concert venues, rock-star hotel rooms, and the political ups and downs of the latter half of the 20th century, right up through the digital age: connecting the counterculture of Haight Ashbury to the "straight world".

Supplemented by a cache of extraordinary documents and letters from Wenner's personal archives, Sticky Fingers is the story of a mercurial, wide-eyed rock and roll fan of ambiguous sexuality but unambiguous ambition who reinvents youth culture, marketing the libertine world of the late '60s counterculture in a stylish, glossy package that would stand for decades as a testament to the cultural power of American youth. Joe Hagan captures in stunning detail the extraordinary lives constellated around a magazine that began as a scrappy rebellion and became a locus of power, influence, and access - using hundreds of hours of reporting and exclusive interviews.

The result is a fascinating and complex portrait of Jann Wenner that is also a biography of popular culture, celebrity, music, and politics in America over the last 50 years.

©2017 Joe Hagan (P)2017 Random House Audio

Wenner is a pretentious star F*****

Would you try another book from Joe Hagan and/or Dennis Boutsikaris?

Yes

What was most disappointing about Joe Hagan’s story?

His filling page after page with "bold type" names then describing their sexual peccadillos or other gossipy tangential tidbits "trust fund" "addict"

Which scene was your favorite?

Bill Graham

Did Sticky Fingers inspire you to do anything?

Not purchase Rolling Stone magazine.

Meh

Boring. About 5 hours too long. A story about rich people and their egos and rich people problems. Sad that I missed out on the 60s and 70s RS, I was hoping this would tell me something I didn’t know about that era. It really didn’t, and even some of the stuff about Hunter S. Thompson that’s in this book contradicts some things I’ve read in other books lately. All I learned is that I don’t like Jann at all.

Excellent story and writing, fantastic narration

Fascinating story. Very well researched. Lots of interesting anecdotes without seeming gossipy. The narration is so skillful that it had me searching for other books narrated by the same talented voice.

Awful people, entertaining read

I really enjoyed reading about the reality of life at a magazine that I dutifully and unquestioningly consumed throughout my youth as a baby boomer. My then-heroes apparently got to where they did by dint of relentless greed, ambition, narcissism and aggression. I feel so much better about my life! Many of these kinds of books really bog down after the subject becomes rich and famous (looking at you, Springsteen and Rod Stewart), but Hagan's prose is swift and lively throughout. He has affection but no illusions, which makes for a supremely entertaining read.

Joe Hagen Definitely Hates Jann Wenner

Not once in this book does Joe Hagan ever say something nice about Wenner's achievements without including a backhanded (or not so backhanded) insult. It's amazing. You kind of have to put it aside or take it with a grain of salt and just try to embrace how awesome and interesting and cool the life and times of this dude really was/were—not to mention his massive achievement in creating what could arguably be called one of the more important and certainly relevant magazines of its time. Which is to say nothing of the fact that he commissioned a great deal of the best journalism of the past 50-75 years. But yeah, Joe Hagan hates the dude. Still, fascinating, impressive and a fun story.

Honest take on Wenner - and his time at RS

If you are like me then you have a love hate relationship with Rolling Stone Magazine. Sticky Fingers is a great account of he life and times of Jann Wenner that shows him and his story warts and all. I read this one after reading Jann's autobiography and it is interesting to see how these stories line up perfectly. The only real difference is that Jann paints himself as the hero in everything the he does. Hagan paints him as he really is/ was. If you love to love/hate RS like I do- you will love this book.

Current events through the lens of Rolling Stone

What other book might you compare Sticky Fingers to and why?

Wild Tales: A Rock and Roll LIfe : Graham Nash. Cover the same ground but from a musicain's less cyncial perspective.

What aspect of Dennis Boutsikaris’s performance would you have changed?

He shoud learn the correct pronuciaton of major characters like Jon Landau.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

From purity to Purgatory

This was authorized?! 😳

This very dense, ultra-researched book is not exactly flattering to Jann Wenner but it's an authorized biography so maybe he's even worse than he seems! It's worth a listen (or read) as there's also a lot about the photographer Annie Leibovitz, Hunter S. Thompson, and Wenner frenemies Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan. The prose is well-written (though the stories are somewhat repetitive) and the narrator is excellent. This book kept me alert and interested on a long, multi-state drive.

Hagan and Wenner Share the same narrator!

Ok, I’m just starting Sticky Fingers but just finished Jann Wenner’s memoir, “Like a Rolling Stone” and the guy who narrated the memoir is also the narrator of Sticky Fingers! Totally weird because I’m used to him being the actual voice of Jann Wenner. Thing I’m reading them in the wrong order!

Delivers the goods

Well researched and (apparently) honest recounting of the humble beginnings, incredible ambition, and, ultimately, the incredible force that Rolling Stone magazine and Jann Wenner were.

Highly recommended.