By Bettye Kronstad
Jawbone Press, 312 pp., $22.95
From the ages of 19 to 23, Bettye Kronstad was Lou Reed’s girlfriend, then fiancée and eventually wife. In that period, he was struggling to build a solo career post-Velvet Underground, and at one point wanted to chuck rock and roll entirely for poetry.
He found massive success with the Transformer record and the single “Walk on the Wild Side.” Then, it was back down to earth with the lukewarm response to his concept album, Berlin. But even in this era of gender-bending and partner sharing, there was a third party in the Reed/Kronstad relationship that would come between them: a chap named Johnnie Walker. Red.
Yes, Lou Reed liked to drink Scotch. A lot. Even more than take the copious amounts of cocaine he ingested during this period.
But Kronstad also writes convincingly of the wild dichotomy — even trichotomy — of Lou Reed’s (or “Lewis,” as she refers to him throughout) personality and how he related to others. Sure, he was a dick, but maybe it was just a defense mechanism to aid his ever-present feelings of unworthiness. He could spout romantic notions while gingerly caressing Kronstad’s hair in bed, and really, really feel notions of love. But then he'd treat her cuttingly with insults and rage; the instances in which he acts like a petulant child in these pages are numerous.
Musically, there just seemed to be no way the prickly Reed could ever be satisfied. If concert audiences responded too favorably to his VU material, they weren't giving his current work enough respect. If they liked the new stuff, they weren't
Kronstad doesn’t come off scot-free either. She freely admits to indulging in substances with
The final straw in their roller coaster was one too many drunken outbursts and the occasion on which she saw another woman inject him with heroin at a party, although how much of a surprise that could be from the man who wrote “Heroin” and “Waiting for the Man” is questionable.
Finally, despite her obvious help in building his career, she unwisely signs away almost any financial claims, gets a quickie divorce in Santo Domingo and then is back with Reed less than a week later.
When
Both would go on to find a happy balance with new partners (Reed with fellow musician Laurie Anderson), and Kronstad continues to work in theater, teaching and writing.
Reed’s liver disease-related death in 2013 at the age of 71 initially prompted Kronstad to write the book. It is of great service to Reed’s fans, providing, indeed, a much more “intimate” look than other bios. And while she may have mixed memories of her time with the other Man In Black, just knowing that the song “Perfect Day” exists because of her is, as she mentions, a great comfort and legacy.