It’s 1978 and a non-stop carnival of debauchery begins as the first shock of punk hits Vancouver. Now, in 2022, revisit John Armstrong’s pivotal memoir in the 21st anniversary edition of Guilty of Everything.
As Buck Cherry – lead singer and guitarist of The Modernettes – Armstrong had himself a front row seat to the frenzy of the 70s and 80s alongside the likes of I Braineater, Joey Shithead, Dimwit, Chuck Biscuits, Mary Jo Kopechne, Art Bergmann and other figures of Vancouver’s earliest punk days. From White Rock to Vancouver, the back rooms and alleys of the Smilin’ Buddha to the Commodore Ballroom, Guilty of Everything recounts the drug-addled, booze-soaked days and nights of this anarchic era, brought to life once again by Armstrong’s candid and compelling prose.

John Armstrong is the author of the laugh–out–loud funny Guilty of Everything, an account of his time in early Vancouver punk band The Modernettes. It was a finalist for the Roderick Haig–Brown Prize for the best BC non–fiction book of 2002, and is being made into a feature film starring Jay Baruchel.

Armstrong lives in Chilliwack, BC, and is working on his third book, an account of his life with dogs.

John Armstrong's profile page

Quite possibly my favourite punk memoir/historical account...He told the story of some of the formative years of the Vancouver punk scene as he experienced it and created a thoroughly entertaining tale of a bygone era in the process.

Armstrong’s sardonic and conversational writing style, studded with frequent one-liners, keeps the narrative energy high.

Armstrong is a natural storyteller and vividly places the reader at a variety of seminal scenes...an entertaining and essential historical document of Canadian punk.

Think Hunter S. Thompson meets Hemingway in Vancouver, and goes on a musical bender. Delicious.

Think Hunter S. Thompson meets Hemingway in Vancouver, and goes on a musical bender. Delicious.
— Erica Leiren, Discorder Magazine

Quite possibly my favourite punk memoir/historical account...He told the story of some of the formative years of the Vancouver punk scene as he experienced it and created a thoroughly entertaining tale of a bygone era in the process.
— Chris Eng, author of Molotov Hearts

Armstrong’s sardonic and conversational writing style, studded with frequent one-liners, keeps the narrative energy high.
— Derek Weiler, Quill & Quire

Armstrong is a natural storyteller and vividly places the reader at a variety of seminal scenes...an entertaining and essential historical document of Canadian punk.
— Michael Barclay, exclaim.ca