{"product_id":"it-starts-with-anger-james-spooner-spooner-9780593701386","title":"It Starts with Anger: A Punk Beginning. an Afropunk Ending.","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom the award-winning filmmaker and graphic novelist, comes the untold origin story of the multi-million-dollar AFROPUNK festival--beginning not with big stages or brand sponsorship, but with one mixed-race teenager's search for belonging in the nineties New York City punk scene.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn 1991, fifteen-year-old James Spooner arrives in New York's West Village, hopeful that he's finally escaped the extremist racism of his Southern California desert town. Still, a question looms large over his cross-country move: What will New York City make of this tartan plaid-and-leather-clad, mixed race, Black kid with a mohawk? Will he find his people? Thus begins Spooner's insider's account of the nineties downtown New York punk and early aughts pre-Giuliani nightlife scenes. In the city's legendary rock clubs, squat basements, and DIY art spaces, he finds his way to creating zines, starting a record label, and promoting parties, while falling further in love with punk rock's distorted guitars and politically progressive lyrics. Happy to have left a world of Nazi skins behind he must still navigate the casual racism and bigotry of a seemingly all-white echo chamber; a world stubbornly resistant to his Black\/punk identity. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIntent on carving a space for young, Black, politically radical punk rockers like himself, Spooner undertakes a whirlwind tour of the country, collecting the stories that will become his acclaimed documentary, \u003ci\u003eAfro-Punk\u003c\/i\u003e, and eventually lead to the wildly successful music festival of the same name\u003ci\u003e. \u003c\/i\u003eBut what begins as a way to chronicle the joys and heartaches of being Black and punk rock soon spirals into a multimillion-dollar corporate endeavor. Spooner is forced to ask himself: In setting out to galvanize an underground movement, has he in fact given rise to the least punk rock thing of all--a brand? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIllustrated with a vibrant mix of comics, spot art, and punk ephemera throughout, \u003ci\u003eIt Starts with Anger \u003c\/i\u003eis at once a coming-of-age story about found family, a compelling capitalist cautionary tale, and a raucous celebration of the indelible, rebellious spirit of Black punks.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e James Spooner Spooner\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0593701380\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780593701386\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Pantheon Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/04\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 352\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 2.06lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 7.00w x 0.94d","brand":"James Spooner Spooner","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":47966003036415,"sku":"9780593701386","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_0188b4e5-3f49-43bd-825e-e05504886cf2.jpg?v=1767286259","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/it-starts-with-anger-james-spooner-spooner-9780593701386","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}