Meet Me in the Bathroom

Meet Me in the Bathroom details the rise of New York's music scene post-9/11, which gave birth to a new era in rock and alternative music, and the stylish, savvy, and forward-looking generation that composed it. The book details both influential musicians of the decade and the culture that surrounded them, including the declining music industry, internet culture, and the booming real estate market in Lower Manhattan and Williamsburg. Meet Me in the Bathroom follows some of the most prominent musical artists of the period, including The Strokes, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, LCD Soundsystem, Interpol, and Vampire Weekend.

Over six years, Goodman conducted more than 200 original interviews for the book with members of these bands as well as other musicians, artists, journalists, bloggers, managers, music executives, groupies, DJs, and other prominent voices from that time period.[2] Goodman's assistants in the editing and transcription process were Maggie Rogers and Eva Hendricks, both of whom were students at New York University Tisch School of the Arts' Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at the time, and would later become known as musicians in their own right.[3]

Meet Me in the Bathroom was critically praised by both literary and music publications, with SPIN calling it "the first great history of New York’s 21st-century rock scene". It was named one of the best books of the year by NPR and GQ.[1]

Controversy surrounded the promotion of the book when an excerpt was released by New York Magazine on May 15, 2017.[4] The piece featured interviews with Ryan Adams and Strokes members Julian Casablancas, Albert Hammond, Jr., Fabrizio Moretti, and Nick Valensi as well as various journalists and affiliates of the music industry. Among other topics, the piece focused on the drug use of guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr. with many interviewees claiming that Ryan Adams furthered Hammond's use of heroin, a claim Adams denies. This claim generated controversy which came to a head on July 31, 2017, when Adams lashed out to The Strokes on Twitter. Adams later removed these comments but they were widely published in music publications.[5] Goodman has said that she did not intend to cause controversy with her book.[6]

In December 2017, it was announced that Pulse Films will adapt Meet Me in the Bathroom as a four-part documentary with LCD Soundsystem-documentary Shut Up and Play the Hits directors Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern attached to direct. Author Lizzy Goodman is one of the executive producers.[7]

Lizzy Goodman, Meet Me in the Bathroom: Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City, 2001–2011, (New York: Dey Street Books/HarperCollins, 2017)