The Uncool

A Memoir

By: Cameron Crowe

Narrated by: Cameron Crowe

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Cameron has written a book that feels like music, an intimate souvenir, like a song you can’t stop listening to.” —Stevie Nicks • “A delicious tale of a devotee who worships at the altar of rock and roll….It’s a love letter to fandom, sealed with Cameron’s trademark sincerity and heart.” —Maggie Rogers • “Such a joy and so well written…My favorite book in a long, long time.” —Anderson Cooper

The long-awaited memoir by Cameron Crowe—one of America’s most iconic journalists and filmmakers—The Uncool is a joyful dispatch from a lost world, a chronicle of the real-life events that became Almost Famous, and a coming-of-age journey filled with music legends as you’ve never seen them before.

Cameron Crowe was an unlikely rock and roll insider. Born in 1957 to parents who strictly banned the genre from their house, he dove headfirst into the world of music. By the time he graduated high school at fifteen, Crowe was contributing to Rolling Stone. His parents became believers, uneasily allowing him to interview and tour with legends like Led Zeppelin; Lynyrd Skynyrd; Bob Dylan; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; and Fleetwood Mac.

The Uncool offers a front-row ticket to the 1970s, a golden era for music and art when rock was young. There’s no such thing as a media junket—just the rare chance a young writer might be invited along for an adventure. Crowe spends his teens politely turning down the drugs and turning on his tape recorder. He talks his journalism teacher into giving him class credit for his road trip covering Led Zeppelin’s 1975 tour, which lands him—and the band—on the cover of Rolling Stone. He embeds with David Bowie as the sequestered genius transforms himself into a new persona: the Thin White Duke. Why did Bowie give Crowe such unprecedented access? “Because you’re young enough to be honest,” Bowie tells him.

Youth and humility are Crowe’s ticket into the Eagles’ dressing room in 1972, where Glenn Frey vows to keep the band together forever; to his first major interview with Kris Kristofferson; to earning the trust of icons like Gregg Allman and Joni Mitchell, who had sworn to never again speak to Rolling Stone. It’s a magical odyssey, the journey of a teenage writer waved through the door to find his fellow dreamers, music geeks, and lifelong community. It’s a path that leads him to writing and directing some of the most beloved films of the past forty years, from Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Say Anything... to Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous. His movies often resonate with the music of the artists he first met as a journalist, including Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the Who, and Pearl Jam.

The Uncool is also a surprisingly intimate family drama. If you’ve seen Almost Famous, you may think you know this story—but you don’t. For the first time, Crowe opens up about his formative years in Palm Springs and pays tribute to his father, a decorated Army officer who taught him the irreplaceable value of the human voice. Crowe also offers a full portrait of his mother, whose singular spirit helped shape him into an unconventional visionary.

With its vivid snapshots of a bygone era and a celebration of creativity and connection, this memoir is an essential read for music lovers or anyone chasing their wildest dreams. At the end of that roller-coaster journey, you might just find what you were looking for: your place in the world.

Well done and informative

A very well written, and narrated. A lot of interesting things about the life in the home and his professional career. The “Almost Famous” author had a hard earned and well deserved career with many great behind the scenes stories. The narration moved the book from a 5 star rating to 5+! I learned so much more about his mother, family, and the musicians that he interviewed and befriended then I expected, and it was a treasure. I highly recommend it to anyone who has seen, and enjoyed “Almost Famous,” “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” or read his articles.

Great stories well told

The background & stories on many of my favorite artists were my favorite parts of the book.

So good!

The story telling and the reading by Cameron was like taking a walk with him as he revealed his secret life. Will listen over and over.

Almost TOO TOO Amazing

The second I finished this Audible, I wrote this review and I started it all over again.
If you’re a Crowe fan and especially an Almost Famous you will LOVE THIS, it is so heart warming, and so interesting and so informative that I can’t think of enough adjectives to show how much I loved it. I also loved that the character of his Mom, played amazingly by Frances McDormand was so close to his real mom Alice that when he was talking about his mom Alice I felt like I knew her.
This book is a love letter to his Mom, his sisters, his family and rock music itself.
Give yourself a gift and get this book. I’m going to buy the hard copy too, because it’s THAT good. Enjoy!

Beautiful stories

This is the best kind of rock and roll memoir with many stories about the music and musicians. It brought me to tears and laughter many times. Wonderfully told and genuine.