Let Us Now Praise Famous Death Dwarves

An extended introduction describes Bangs' complex feelings about the music of Lou Reed, admiring his songwriting genius, but intrigued by some of the anti-social aspects of Reed's more challenging albums and his sometimes-hostile personality.

After fortifying himself with research and drugs, Bangs meets Reed in a hotel room, where they trade barbed personal insults and argue about the current music scene, amphetamine formulae, and the Herbie Hancock music that Lou selected to play in the background.

In a provocative gesture, Lester challenges Lou to remove his sunglasses: "Lou's sallow skin almost as whitish yellow as his hair, whole face and frame so transcendently emaciated he had indeed become insectival. His eyes were rusty, two copper coins lying in desert sands under the sun all day with telephone wires humming overhead, but he looked straight at me. Maybe through me."

• "A hero is a goddam stupid thing to have in the first place and a general block to anything you might wanta accomplish on your own."^[1]