For more information:
Frank R. Scatoni
619-807-1887
frank at ventureliterary.com

"No Kill Date"

Venture Literary Sells Moving Chronicle of Rock Superstars’ Shared Self-Destruction to Citadel Press

On April 11, 2008, Frank R. Scatoni of Venture Literary sold World rights to award-winning writer David Comfort’s The Rock and Roll Book of the Dead: The Swan Songs of Seven Superstars to Richard Ember at Citadel Press.

While a great deal has been written about the movers-and-shakers of modern rock music, no book has attempted to explore the roots of their great common theme: their self-destruction. Based on groundbreaking new research, David Comfort’s book is a dramatic nonfiction narrative that maps out the tragic career arcs of seven modern rock music luminaries: Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, and Jerry Garcia. These rock icons shared in their self-destruction, stemming from childhood trauma to a fatal attraction to fame and death.

According to Comfort, all of them were obsessed with becoming stars, but once that stardom was achieved, it became a gilded cage for each. While superhuman quantities of drugs provided a temporary escape, it seems as though only death was able to provide a lasting emancipation. “Maybe my audiences can enjoy my music more if they think I’m destroying myself,”Janis Joplin said before her fatal overdose.

Supported by a wealth of unknown and shocking facts that are sure to create controversy in the rock-and-roll world and beyond, Comfort reveals these artists as brilliant and charismatic yet deeply flawed human beings—exceedingly different from the legends we thought we knew. In this age of “American Idolatry,” which is now witnessing the fall of the reigning kings and queens of pop, this narrative will provide even the most diehard fans a shocking new perspective on the price of superstardom. Part rags-to-riches tale, part love-and-loss drama, part murder mystery, part exposé, and part penetrating psychoanalysis, this book is a unique addition to the greatest rock literature of our time.

The Rock and Roll Book of the Dead is a product of the author’s thirty-year intensive study of the fatalistic pioneers of sixties and seventies classic rock. Due to his musical background and his skills as a researcher and historical analyst, Comfort is able to approach this story from a personal level as a compelling storyteller. He is a retired rock musician, the author of three bestselling nonfiction books from Simon & Schuster, and the recipient of many literary awards, including the Faulkner Award, the Nelson Algren, and America’s Best.

To learn more about Venture Literary, visit: www.ventureliterary.com.
To learn more about the Citadel Press, visit: www.kensingtonbooks.com
To learn more about David Comfort, visit: http://www.davidcomfort.org/