false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165403940m/4261.jpg 4261 4 The personal essays in Nick Hornby's <I>Songbook</I> pop off the page with the immediacy and passion of an artfully arranged mix-tape. But then, who better to riff on 31 of his favorite songs than the author of that literary music-lover's delight, <I>High Fidelity</I>?<p> "And mostly all I have to say about these songs is that I love them, and want to sing along to them, and force other people to listen to them, and get cross when these other people don't like them as much as I do," writes Hornby. More than his humble disclaimer, he captures "the narcotic need" for repeat plays of Nelly Furtado's "I'm Like a Bird," and testifies that "you can hear God" in Rufus Wainwright's coy reinterpretation of his father Loudon's "One Man Guy" ("given a neat little twist by Wainwright Junior's sexual orientation..."). Especially poignant is his reaction to "A Minor Incident," a Badly Drawn Boy song written for the soundtrack of the film version of Hornby's book <I>About a Boy</I>. While Hornby was writing the book, his young son was diagnosed with autism--a fact that adds greater resonance to the seemingly unrelated song he hears much later: "I write a book that isn't about my kid, and then someone writes a beautiful song based on an episode in my book that turns out to mean something much more personal to me than my book ever did." Meandering asides and observations like this linger in your mind (just like a fantastic song) long after you've flipped past the final page.<p> The 11-song CD that accompanies the book is a great touch, but it's too bad it doesn't contain all of the featured songs--most likely the unfortunate result of licensing difficulties. Overall, Hornby's pitch-perfect prose, the quirky illustrations from Canadian artist Marcel Dzama, and a good cause--proceeds benefit TreeHouse, a U.K. charity for children with autism, and 826 Valencia, the nonprofit Bay Area learning center--add up to make <I>Songbook</I> a hit. Solid gold. <I>--Brad Thomas Parsons</I> 7951 2002 Songbook total:1872|5:338|4:610|3:707|2:190|1:27| 1872 6658 2601 136 4 3 false false Tue Sep 04 12:56:13 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 04 13:55:28 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Dec 06 16:04:39 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 11 00:56:02 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Apr 29 10:13:51 -0700 2009 Tue May 05 17:43:58 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri May 15 23:07:02 -0700 2009 Fri May 15 23:12:59 -0700 2009
In Songbook, he presents eleven essays on songs that have meaning for him. Some of them I've heard, and I love. Others I've heard and didn't love. And other I haven't...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Tue May 12 18:20:35 -0700 2009 Tue May 12 19:27:14 -0700 2009 This book is a collection of 31 essays about pop songs, and I realize that I am a sucker for pop. As much as my musical tastes were formed with early ‘70s hard rock, I did st...more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Jun 23 12:15:12 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 23 12:15:46 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Sat Jul 25 21:45:17 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 25 21:45:27 -0700 2009 writes essays about his favorite songs.
I had never heard of a single song in
this book until now. The book comes
with a CD of some of the music...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Nov 19 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 19 20:04:27 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 19 20:12:38 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jan 24 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Wed Jul 16 13:42:45 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 16 13:43:44 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jul 20 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 08 06:34:34 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 20 12:22:53 -0700 2008 High Fidelity had been my favorite book up until now. But wi...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat May 03 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 30 10:57:09 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 16 11:26:15 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Mar 21 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 23 12:31:41 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 23 12:34:21 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun May 13 07:29:27 -0700 2007 Sun May 13 07:29:27 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jul 10 09:27:07 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 27 11:07:43 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 15 07:26:52 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 15 07:27:04 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Sep 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 17 06:30:24 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 22 12:40:26 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Jan 25 21:47:56 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 25 22:05:43 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Nov 15 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Sep 03 10:30:42 -0700 2008 Fri Nov 21 12:58:32 -0800 2008 About a Boy has always been absolutely one of my favorites, and I've been meaning to read this for ages. When I finally nabbed a copy on BookMooch, I was semi-disappointed when I checked the table of contents and realized that Hornby wrote about many songs I either ...more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Fri Feb 20 09:45:55 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 20 09:55:37 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Oct 08 16:09:14 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 16:10:40 -0700 2009
...that's what music needs: this kind of devotion, this assumption that the artists know what they're doing and that if you give them the time and the requisite confidence, they will deliver something you wil...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=4261