The rumors are true

Some news about a long-awaited book project

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Well, friends, I have some very good news to share. My collaboration with Evan Dando is finally happening.

Let’s back up a bit. 2020 was a topsy-turvy year. It was a rollercoaster for most people on the planet, but for me it was like a game of Chutes and Ladders.

The good news: I somehow sold a book about SST Records, which worked out pretty well in the long run. The bad news: Bad Religion had to cancel its tour and all the book events we’d planned to promote Do What You Want went down the drain. This bad news was mitigated by the pandemic, which was an absolute shit-show. It’s hard to get all woe-is-me when people are dying.

So I didn’t know what to make of my collaboration with Evan, which commenced during the summer of lockdowns. He was all the way out in Martha’s Vineyard and I was stuck in San Diego. Even after we sold the book proposal and landed a book deal, it didn’t seem real, like it could all go up in smoke at any moment.

As the years passed that feeling never really went away. We worked on the book and wrote draft after draft, but we just couldn’t get it off the runway.

Until we did. I’m pleased to announce that Rumors of My Demise will be published by Faber & Faber in the UK and by Gallery Books in the US on October 7, 2025, and is available for pre-order now.

What makes all this even more exciting is Evan has his first album of new material in almost 20 years coming out October 24 from Fire Records. (You can pre-order that, too.) Evan is writing new songs, releasing videos, and touring Ireland and the UK in August, Europe in September and the US in November and December.

It’s an Evan Dando renaissance!

Rumors of My Demise is a memoir that covers every facet of Evan’s life and career and chronicles his many highs and lows. It closely follows his evolution from high school rocker in the Boston punk scene to the beloved singer-songwriter who became a ‘90s sex symbol.

Although it’s a veritable who’s who of punk, alternative, and mainstream rock from the ‘80s and ‘90s, Rumors of My Demise is also a deep reflection on the perils of addiction and the simple beauty of songwriting.

In the coming weeks I’ll have links to news, reviews, and interviews, but right now I couldn’t be happier for Evan.

Pre-order Rumors of My Demise right now at Bookshop, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or your local library or independent bookstore. Share with your bros who insist Hate Your Friends is an underrated classic or your exes who know every word of It’s a Shame About Ray by heart.

Thanks for reading! Today is a good day to upgrade to a paid subscription. If you liked this newsletter you might also like my latest novel about healthcare vigilantes Make It Stop, or the paperback edition of Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise & Fall of SST Records, or my book with Bad Religion, or my book with Keith Morris. I have more books and zines for sale here. Plus, the anthology Eight Very Bad Nights is getting a paperback release.

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