Ellen Willis, bad-ass feminist. c. 1970
Just finished reading Out of the Vinyl Deeps, a book of rock criticism that is both radical and rad, written by the above woman and compiled by her daughter. Willis the elder was hired at the New Yorker at 24 (I CRY) after writing ONE (!) ESSAY elsewhere, on Dylan. But oh hi, she wrote “people hate Bob Dylan because they hate being fooled,” and who wouldn’t hire that genius? She wrote her Rock, Etc. column for seven years (1968-1975) during which everything happened in music, basically.
Reading it all made me realize that I have been trying (and probs failing) to write like Willis for years without even knowing who she was. She’s incisive and obsessed with truth (not reality, no, but nor is she any sucker for rock-star myth) and matter-of-factly personal. Her opinions spring from feelings, not from -isms. Her prose is so free, so clear. And she’s smart but doesn’t seem to care if you know it.
Reblogged from Ellen Willis.
