Rob Sheffield is a contributing editor for Rolling Stone and his memoir, Love is a Mix Tape, tells his story through the songs on his favorite (or most significant) mix tapes. The story mostly revolves around Rob's eight years with his wife, who died unexpectedly at a very young age. The two of them bonded over music, making mix tapes for every occasion: road trips, walks, workouts, washing dishes, etc.I've only just started reading this, but I've found it humorous (the mix tape he made for his eighth-grade dance: hello Boston and Cheap Trick), sweet (his dad spending an afternoon making a mix tape with his 12-year-old son) and sad (knowing from the beginning his wife Renee is going to die). It's a bit High Fidelity and a bit The Year of Magical Thinking. He spends his college years with headphones covering his ears, which made me think of High Fidelity's Rob: Is he depressed because he listens to pop music or does he listen to pop music because he's depressed?
One of my favorite quotes so far: "The times you lived through, the people you shared those times with - nothing brings it all to life like an old mix tape. It does a better job of storing up memories than actual brain tissue can do. Every mix tape tells a story. Put them together, and they add up to the story of a life."
More to come as I continue reading, and remembering the songs and mixed tapes/CDs of my life.
1 comment:
dude!!!!i loved this book. good analogy--it's very much year of magical thinking + high fidelity. and you know how i feel about mix tapes!!!!!
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