Upgrade your beach reading with these musical manuscripts.

I, Doll: Life and Death With the New York Dolls
By Arthur “Killer” Kane
The original bassist of the glam-punk rock pioneers chronicled their rise and glittery fall before his death in 2004. Fun and sad.

Heavy Rotation
Edited by Peter Terzian
Joshua Ferris and 19 other writers composed tributes to the albums that influenced their younger selves. Sadly, our essay on The Fat Boys Are Back! didn’t make the cut.

Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits
By Barney Hoskyns
Rock-journo vet Hoskyns compiled this biography from his multiple inter-views with Waits and the menthol-mouthed crooner’s closest buds.

Mötley Crüe: A Visual History: 83-05
By Neil Zlozower
The first photo history of the hard-rocking and harder-drinking ’80s hair-metal heroes features a foreword by Nikki Sixx and, happily, no dong shots of Tommy Lee.