Out of My Book Funk!

Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man's Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut by Rob Sheffield
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A friend gave this to me to help me get over my Hunger Games withdrawal.  After trying to read at least 3 other books, this is the one that worked.  The Introduction just reeled me in with its slick, easy, conversation-like style and I read it in two sittings:  going from LGA-CVG and then a couple of hours last night.  It's like sitting at a bar and talking to a super-cool guy about your shared music obsessions.  One of those conversations that while you're in the middle of it you hope it doesn't stop for a while.

While I can't say I  agree with (a lot!) of his favorite or well-remembered songs (when was the last time you heard someone mention Scritti Politti or Ray Parker Jr.?) I will say that I wholeheartedly agree and identify with the place that music holds in his life.  I very clearly remember the first time I heard certain bands and there are songs that can stop me in my tracks and move me to another year in another city.  I adore the way he shares with us the lessons he learned from these songs, these artists.  I identify with how much these songs relate to certain people, certain years and the state we were in when we obsessively play them over and over.  I was a huge Smiths fan but always knew Morrissey was just in a funk, I was a Madonna and Prince fan but never hoped they'd last as long as they did.  I never really cared about Duran Duran when they were around (gasp!).  I didn't relate at the time to boys who wanted to wear make up and be prettier than me.  But I distinctly remember the first time I watched MTV and then what a prevalent part of my life it became.  There are so many artists that I didn't like then that I have come to appreciate with time and Duran Duran is one of them.  I worked in a music store when 'Decades' came out and that was actually when my appreciation began. They are one of the bands that sound seems to get richer the longer it stays on the air.  What was kind of fluffy silliness in the year it was released now, for me, seems to embody an historical period that made its claim on that lightness and in retrospect seems so sweet and naive and quaint.  I love Duran Duran now and this book definitely spoke to me.  Now if only we can get John Cusack to star in the movie...


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