More Required Reading

Earlier this week I went to my local branch of Chapters (Canada's answer to Barnes and Noble) with every intention of picking up the new Max's book, but ended up being far more intrigued by the presence of Cherry Vanilla's new autobiography, Lick Me, which I wasn't expecting to be out until November.  I took it home and promptly devoured it--and now I'm not sure whether to file it with the groupie memoirs or on the sacred streetsyoucrossed NYC research shelf, because it covers both of my favorite sub-categories of rock & roll literature equally well.  Not only does she make all the joints whose ads I've been collecting over the last few months come to life, but she manages to infuse all her classic sexanddrugsandrockandroll tales with perfectly blended tones of salaciousness and sensitivity.  Since I'm also a Mad Men fan (not quite a Basketcase, but close), an added bonus was her discussion of her pre-groupie, pre-Pork, pre-Bowie days in the advertising industry, in which she was something of a psychedelic Peggy Olson (according to her, LSD rather than liquor was the social lubricant of choice among her Mad. Ave. peers).  Plus she hails from my home borough--how could I not root for her based on that alone ferchrissakes?  You can see some press and excerpts at her website, but you may as well skip the preliminaries and go straight for the whole book--it's a godsend to the likes of us and you won't be sorry!