Beastie Boys Detail Expansive, Long-Awaited Memoir

The Beastie Boys‘ long-awaited memoir, the aptly titled Beastie Boys Book, will be released October 30th via publishers Spiegel and Grau.

The group’s two surviving members, Mike D and Ad-Rock, penned the 592-page book, but also solicited contributions from an array of guests including Amy Poehler, Wes Anderson, Spike Jonze, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Colson Whitehead and author Luc Sante. Beastie Boys Book is available to pre-order via the band’s website.

Per a description, Beastie Boys Book will cover the band’s “transition from teenage punks to budding rappers; their early collaboration with Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin; the almost impossible-to-fathom overnight success of their debut studio album Licensed to Ill; that album’s messy fallout; their break with Def Jam, move to Los Angeles, and rebirth as musicians and social activists, with the genre-defying masterpiece Paul’s Boutique.”

The book will include rare photos and original illustrations, as well as some more left-field flourishes. Along with the guest contributions, Beastie Boys Book will boast a cookbook from chef Roy Choi, a graphic novel, a map of the Beastie Boys’ New York and mixtape playlists.

The Beastie Boys first announced their memoir in 2013, one year after the death of co-founder Adam Yauch. In an interview on Beats 1 earlier this year, Mike D teased the book’s multi-faceted nature, saying, “I think a lot of times when I read a band book or I watch a music documentary, maybe I’m just kind of ADD, I get a little bored. But actually, I don’t think they do the subject matter justice because it’s kinda surreal what happens in bands’ lives, so you kind of have to use all dimensions to tell the story more accurately. I can say pretty confidently, it will be unlike any other music book.”