Staying humble, for me, is always just a click away: the Amazon page where my book A Cultural Dictionary of Punk is for sale for 24.99. It’s not just any old copy, however: it’s an inscribed copy I gave to someone, probably when the book was published in 2009.


And if I still think the old ego needs to be taken down a peg or two, I can remind myself that the inscribed book has been listed there for over two years! A real “Collectible” gem. And the product description reads “appears unread.” Great! As to who I gave the book to as an inscribed gift, my guesses would be just shots in the dark. And in truth, I don’t want to know. Although the thought does creep into my mind on occasion to buy the copy myself, and then send it to the inscribee yet again, with yet another inscription that contains the phrase “you bum, you.”

So if you see some guy in black and white walking down the street covering his face in shame with a record, it’s probably me.