Lit Riffs

Following in the footsteps of the late great Lester Bangs -- the most revered and irreverent of rock 'n' roll critics -- twenty-four celebrated writers have penned stories inspired by great songs. Just as Bangs cast new light on a Rod Stewart classic with his story Maggie May, about a wholly unexpected connection between an impressionable young man and an aging, alcoholic hooker, the diverse, electrifying stories here use songs as a springboard for a form dubbed the lit riff.
Alongside Bangs's classic work, you'll find stories by J.T. LeRoy, who puts a recovering teenage drug abuser in a dentist's chair with nothing but the Foo Fighters's Everlong -- blaring through the P.A. -- to fight the pain; Jonathan Lethem, whose narrator looks back on his lost innocence just as an extramarital affair careens to an end -- this to the tune Speeding Motorcycle as recorded by Yo La Tengo; and Jennifer Belle, who envisions a prequel to Paul Simon's Graceland -- one that takes place at a children's birthday party replete with a real live kangaroo.
With original contributions from Tom Perrotta, Nelson George, Amanda Davis, Lisa Tucker, Aimee Bender, Darin Strauss, and many more -- riffing on everyone from Tom Waits and Bruce Springsteen to the White Stripes, Cat Power, and Bob Marley -- this is both an astounding collection of short stories and an extraordinary experiment in words and music.
Soundtrack available from Saturation Acres Music & Recording Co.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: MTV Books
Published: 08/01/2006
ISBN: 9780743470261
Pages: 432
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.00w x 1.00d

Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 05/15/2004 pg. 463
PW Notes and Reprints 05/10/2004 pg. 38
Booklist 06/01/2004 pg. 1702
Publishers Weekly 05/10/2004
School Library Journal 01/01/2005 pg. 160