The title of this post today is quite literally true. I read this book in less than 24 hours, finishing it soon after I woke up this morning. It's the kind of book I just didn't get tired while reading, which is why I was awake until a little past 4 am. Oops!
Rob Sheffield is a music critic and pop culture writer for Rolling Stone, MTV, etc, and he's also written two memoirs. I read his first one when it came out in 2007, and I believe that was a one-day read as well. There's something about this guy's writing that I just can't stop reading. His first book, Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time, was about the brief years he spent with his wife before she died unexpectedly, and he tells their story through the lens of the music they shared. It was amazing.
Talking to Girls About Duran Duran came out last year, and was just as good, if not a little better. Each chapter is named after a song and the year that song came out, all during the 80s, and he talks about growing up through discussing pop music. I love 80s music, but there were a decent number of the songs that I'd never even heard of before, yet that didn't hinder my connection with his story. It's not so much about the specific song or artist he discusses as it is about how, as idiot kids, we think pop music is teaching us everything we need to know about life and love and who we are. When he was writing about being a teenager, I felt like a teenager. Even though my songs would've been more in the 90s, it didn't matter. I understood what he was talking about. It reminded me how much I love music, though I don't know if I'll ever love it quite as much as Rob does. One of my favorite things about him is that he makes no apologies for the types of music he likes - pop, indie, goth, new wave, punk, metal, whatever. He likes some of all of it and he doesn't care what you think. I firmly believe there should be no such thing as a "guilty pleasure"; if you like something, like it and don't be ashamed! Sheffield quotes Oscar Wilde as saying, "No civilized man ever regrets a pleasure, and no uncivilized man knows what a pleasure is." When it comes to music, I agree.
So, if you're looking for something to read soon, I highly recommend checking out either of these books!
