Listen to the Book, Read the Music

Yesterday, I ordered something at Amazon that cost slightly below the amount you need to get free shipping. Since the shipping was $10, I just went ahead and added something else cheap to even it out. That decision cost me several hours (really, Amazon doesn't have much under-$10 stuff). I ended up getting something on my wish list - Dusty In Memphis by Warren Zanes, part of Continuum Books' interesting Thirty Three and a Third series of writers on their favorite albums. These books supposedly deal less with the nuts-and-bolts of the albums themselves and more about the intensely personal relationships the authors have with the music they love. An excellent idea, although Amazon is filled with pissy reviews from people who mistakenly thought they were getting a straightforward "making of" tome. Meat Is Murder, for example, is Joe Pernice's semi-ficitional reflections of being an alienated alterna-teen in the '80s. While at the library today, I checked out Elisabeth Vincentelli's volume on ABBA Gold (Ms. Vincentelli was the only music critic I ever wrote a fan email to, by the way). Other books in the series yet to be released include Pet Sounds and Three Feet High and Rising. They seem a little pricey at 10 bucks for a small, thin paperback - but if you love the albums and you love weblog-style writing, I guess you can't go wrong.
Posted by mhinrichs at July 10, 2004 04:27 PM