You know her. You know she was and is blonde (most of the time) and beautiful (all of the time), that she was immortalized by Andy Warhol in silk-screened canvas prints, emerged at the height of disco with “Heart of Glass” and recorded “Rapture,” the first rap song to hit number one on the charts. In her new book, Face It: A Memoir, the cover aptly scrawled with a toss of dice and open safety pin framing Debbie Harry wearing dark shades, the singer, songwriter, actor and activist removes the sunglasses and kicks back in real conversation to relate one fascinating life.

With an introduction by guitarist and photographer Chris Stein, who appears throughout in fond iterations as her definitive soulmate, the loosely chronological book is anchored in New Jersey and inspirited by New York City. “Wherever I go, I’m always comparing it to New York. It’s not the way it was (none of us are) but it’s still thriving and vibrant. New York is my pulse. New York is my heart. I’m still a New York punk.” William Burroughs, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, John Waters and other cultural mavens spice up the narrative, but along with chapter defining photographs, equal billing is given to a trove of fan art, “Because the act of making art is the important part. It touches me still that another person would go to the trouble and time to create a piece of art and then give it to me.” She’s a friend whose frank, often self-deprecating style maintains an easy acceptance of pinnacles and pitfalls, but never loses a curious, open-minded ability to Face It. –Gwynned Vitello

Dey Street Books-Harper Collins, deystreet.harpercollins.com