The Sun and the Moon & the Rolling Stones by Rich Cohen

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.

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.