Lou Reed’s Writings on Martial Arts Set for Release, With Laurie Anderson Foreword
The Art of the Straight Line collects the accomplished shadowboxer’s unpublished writings on tai chi, music, and meditation
By Jazz Monroe
January 5, 2023
Lou Reed performing a tai chi session
Lou Reed, June 2010 (Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
A new book will compile the writings of Lou Reed—an accomplished tai chi practitioner from the 1980s until his death—on music, meditation, and martial arts. The Art of the Straight Line: My Tai Chi, out March 14 via HarperOne, features a foreword from the late artist’s partner, Laurie Anderson.
The book comprises “unpublished writings on the technique, practice, and purpose of martial arts, as well as essays, observations, and riffs on meditation and life,” according to the publisher. Reed, who studied with Master Ren GuangYi, discussed the practice with artists, friends, and other tai chi practitioners, such as Iggy Pop, Tony Visconti, Julian Schnabel, and the late Hal Willner. Those conversations also appear in the book.
Anderson edited the book alongside Stephan Berwick, Bob Currie, and Scott Richman. Faber will publish The Art of the Straight Line in the United Kingdom and Ireland on March 16.
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