Category
Music
Backbeats 2026
Rock and roll thrives on rhythm, but the drummers who drive that pulse often stay in the shadows. In Backbeats, acclaimed music historian John Lingan brings these unsung heroes into the spotlight, delivering a fascinating journey through six decades of rock history.
Lingan’s deep research and vivid...
Absolutely on Music 2016
A deeply personal, intimate conversation about music and writing between the internationally acclaimed, best-selling author and the former conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
In Absolutely on Music, internationally Haruki Murakami sits down with his friend Seiji Ozawa, the revered former...
Don't Stop 2026
Fleetwood Mac’s iconic album Rumours is more popular and acclaimed now than ever and attracts listeners across generations—Don’t Stop celebrates the album’s unlikely creation, surprising longevity, and enduring cultural impact.
On January 1, 1975, struggling young singer-songwriter Lindsey...
Fargo Rock City 2002
With a voice like Ace Frehley’s guitar, Klosterman hacks his way through hair-band history, beginning with that fateful day in 1983 when his older brother brought home Mötley Crüe’s Shout at the Devil. The fifth-grade Chuck wasn’t quite ready to rock—his hair was too short and his farm was too...
From Ear to Ear 2025
While other kids were enjoying the head-bashing pleasures of tackle football, a freshly bar mitzvahed Steven Blier was inhaling operas and getting his first taste of accompanying professional singers. Beginning with impromptu piano gigs in the 1960s, Blier ascended to a dazzling career as an...
Girl in a Band 2015
For many, Kim Gordon is the epitome of cool: vocalist, bassist/guitarist and founding member of Sonic Youth—one of the most successful bands to emerge from the post-punk New York scene—despite being famously reserved. Ten years ago, Gordon distilled that coolness into her groundbreaking memoir, Girl...
How Women Made Music 2024
Drawn from NPR Music’s acclaimed, groundbreaking series *Turning the Tables*, the definitive book on the vital role of women in music—from Beyoncé to Odetta, Taylor Swift to Joan Baez, Joan Jett to Dolly Parton—featuring archival interviews, essays, photographs, and illustrations.
*Turning the...
The Jazzmen 2024
This is the story of three revolutionary American musicians, the maestro jazzmen who orchestrated the chords that throb at the soul of twentieth-century America. Duke Ellington, the grandson of slaves who was christened Edward Kennedy Ellington, was a man whose story is as layered and nuanced as his...
Just Kids 2010
It was the summer Coltrane died, the summer of love and riots, and the summer when a chance encounter in Brooklyn led two young people on a path of art, devotion, and initiation.
Patti Smith would evolve as a poet and performer, and Robert Mapplethorpe would direct his highly provocative style...
Once upon a time, there was a man who made himself into a myth. He went by a single name: Beck. He sang songs that didn’t make easy sense in plain English, but which were somehow urgent and undeniable to those who heard them. He mined a dizzying array of musical styles from the past to construct...
Lucky 2025
Before Jodie Rattler became a star, she was a girl growing up in St. Louis. One day in 1955, when she was just six years old, her uncle Drew took her to the racetrack, where she got lucky—and that roll of two-dollar bills she won has never since left her side. Jodie thrived in the warmth of her...
Making Mary Poppins 2025
Making Mary Poppins reveals the extraordinary true story behind the creation of one of the most beloved films of all time—and the two little-known songwriters who helped make it possible.
Long before Mary Poppins danced across the rooftops of Edwardian London and into the hearts of millions, Robert...
Musical Elaborations 2026
Filling a significant gap in contemporary cultural studies, Musical Elaborations examines the intersection of the public and private meaning of music.
Incorporating the music criticism of Adorno, musical ideas from literary works by Proust, and criticism by Benjamin and de Man into his work, noted...
Musicophilia 2008
In Musicophilia, he shows us a variety of what he calls “musical misalignments.” Among them: a man struck by lightning who suddenly desires to become a pianist at the age of forty-two; an entire group of children with Williams syndrome, who are hypermusical from birth; people with “amusia,” to whom...
Ozzy & Me 2026
Stephen Rea was born in Northern Ireland in 1969, the same year “The Troubles” began. Violence was everywhere. His grandmother was nearly killed when gunmen opened fire on the wrong house, leaving young Stephen to pick at the bullet holes in the walls. He found refuge from this turmoil in heavy...
Recomposed 2026
CAN MUSIC SAVE THE WORLD? We are witnessing a climate-oriented transformation of what music is and how it comes to be. Recomposed shows how musicians around the world are using the cultural power of music to link climate awareness to climate action.
Award-winning author and academic Kyle Devine...
Rock* 2026
The Velvet Underground & Nico was released in the spring of 1967. For decades, the cliche has been that it initially only sold 10,000 copies, though everyone who bought it supposedly started a band. It is the definition of a record whose influence outstrips its mass popularity. But what if the...
Such Great Heights 2025
Maybe you caught a few exhilarating seconds of “Teen Age Riot” on a nearby college radio station while scanning the FM dial in your parents’ car. Maybe your friend invited you to a shabby local rock club and you ended up having a religious experience with Neutral Milk Hotel. Perhaps you were...
One of the few indisputable geniuses of pop music, Sly Stone is a trailblazer and a legend. He created a new kind of music, mixing Black and white, male and female, funk and rock. As a songwriter, he penned some of the most iconic anthems of the 1960s and ’70s, from “Everyday People” to “Family...
One of the few indisputable geniuses of pop music, Sly Stone is a trailblazer and a legend. He created a new kind of music, mixing Black and white, male and female, funk and rock. As a songwriter, he penned some of the most iconic anthems of the 1960s and ’70s, from “Everyday People” to “Family...
A Thousand Threads 2024
Born in Sweden in 1964, Neneh Cherry’s father Ahmadu was a musician from Sierra Leone. Her mother, Moki, was a twenty-one-year-old Swedish textile artist. Her parents split up just after Neneh was born, and not long afterwards Moki met and fell in love with acclaimed jazz musician Don Cherry....
An impassioned defence of Black excellence in the arts. What does it mean – and how does it feel – to grow up as a Black artist today?
‘This exceptional book, written with a mother’s love for her seven creative children, sensitively offers profound and original insights and perspectives that...
From the opening piano notes of “Thunder Road,” to the final outro of “Jungleland”—with American anthems like “Born to Run” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out” in between—Bruce Springsteen’s seminal album, Born to Run, established Springsteen as a creative force in rock and roll.
With his back against...
Every culture on Earth has music. Every culture that’s ever existed has had it, but we don’t exactly know why. Music is not like food, shelter, or having opposable thumbs. We don’t need it to live, and yet we can’t seem to live without it. Glenn Dixon travels the globe exploring how and why people...
What a Fool Believes 2026
Grammy Award–winning, platinum selling singer-songwriter Michael McDonald, written with his friend, Emmy Award–nominated actor, comedian, and #1 New York Times bestselling author Paul Reiser.
Doobie Brothers. Steely Dan. Chart topping soloist. Across a half-century of American music, Michael...
When the Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Bob Dylan in 2016, a debate raged. Some celebrated, while many others questioned the choice. How could the world’s most prestigious book prize be awarded to a famously cantankerous singer-songwriter who wouldn’t even deign to attend the medal...
Year of the Monkey 2019
Following a run of New Year's concerts at San Francisco's legendary Fillmore, Patti Smith finds herself tramping the coast of Santa Cruz, about to embark on a year of solitary wandering. Unfettered by logic or time, she draws us into her private wonderland with no design, yet heeding...
Zerox Machine 2024
Zerox Machine is an immersive journey through the vibrant history of British punk and its associated fanzines from 1976 to 1988. Drawing on an extensive range of previously unpublished materials sourced from private collections across the United Kingdom, Matthew Worley describes and analyzes this...
There are no books rated in this category
Don't Stop November 24, 2026
Fleetwood Mac’s iconic album Rumours is more popular and acclaimed now than ever and attracts listeners across generations—Don’t Stop celebrates the album’s unlikely creation, surprising longevity, and enduring cultural impact.
On January 1, 1975, struggling young singer-songwriter Lindsey...
The Last Temptation of Beck November 17, 2026
Once upon a time, there was a man who made himself into a myth. He went by a single name: Beck. He sang songs that didn’t make easy sense in plain English, but which were somehow urgent and undeniable to those who heard them. He mined a dizzying array of musical styles from the past to construct...
Backbeats November 10, 2026
Rock and roll thrives on rhythm, but the drummers who drive that pulse often stay in the shadows. In Backbeats, acclaimed music historian John Lingan brings these unsung heroes into the spotlight, delivering a fascinating journey through six decades of rock history.
Lingan’s deep research and vivid...
Ozzy & Me November 10, 2026
Stephen Rea was born in Northern Ireland in 1969, the same year “The Troubles” began. Violence was everywhere. His grandmother was nearly killed when gunmen opened fire on the wrong house, leaving young Stephen to pick at the bullet holes in the walls. He found refuge from this turmoil in heavy...
Musical Elaborations September 22, 2026
Filling a significant gap in contemporary cultural studies, Musical Elaborations examines the intersection of the public and private meaning of music.
Incorporating the music criticism of Adorno, musical ideas from literary works by Proust, and criticism by Benjamin and de Man into his work, noted...
Rock* September 22, 2026
The Velvet Underground & Nico was released in the spring of 1967. For decades, the cliche has been that it initially only sold 10,000 copies, though everyone who bought it supposedly started a band. It is the definition of a record whose influence outstrips its mass popularity. But what if the...
Tonight in Jungleland August 11, 2026
From the opening piano notes of “Thunder Road,” to the final outro of “Jungleland”—with American anthems like “Born to Run” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out” in between—Bruce Springsteen’s seminal album, Born to Run, established Springsteen as a creative force in rock and roll.
With his back against...
Recomposed July 14, 2026
CAN MUSIC SAVE THE WORLD? We are witnessing a climate-oriented transformation of what music is and how it comes to be. Recomposed shows how musicians around the world are using the cultural power of music to link climate awareness to climate action.
Award-winning author and academic Kyle Devine...
What a Fool Believes May 19, 2026
Grammy Award–winning, platinum selling singer-songwriter Michael McDonald, written with his friend, Emmy Award–nominated actor, comedian, and #1 New York Times bestselling author Paul Reiser.
Doobie Brothers. Steely Dan. Chart topping soloist. Across a half-century of American music, Michael...
From Ear to Ear November 18, 2025
While other kids were enjoying the head-bashing pleasures of tackle football, a freshly bar mitzvahed Steven Blier was inhaling operas and getting his first taste of accompanying professional singers. Beginning with impromptu piano gigs in the 1960s, Blier ascended to a dazzling career as an...
Making Mary Poppins November 11, 2025
Making Mary Poppins reveals the extraordinary true story behind the creation of one of the most beloved films of all time—and the two little-known songwriters who helped make it possible.
Long before Mary Poppins danced across the rooftops of Edwardian London and into the hearts of millions, Robert...
To Be Young, Gifted and Black September 2, 2025
An impassioned defence of Black excellence in the arts. What does it mean – and how does it feel – to grow up as a Black artist today?
‘This exceptional book, written with a mother’s love for her seven creative children, sensitively offers profound and original insights and perspectives that...
Such Great Heights August 26, 2025
Maybe you caught a few exhilarating seconds of “Teen Age Riot” on a nearby college radio station while scanning the FM dial in your parents’ car. Maybe your friend invited you to a shabby local rock club and you ended up having a religious experience with Neutral Milk Hotel. Perhaps you were...
Lucky March 18, 2025
Before Jodie Rattler became a star, she was a girl growing up in St. Louis. One day in 1955, when she was just six years old, her uncle Drew took her to the racetrack, where she got lucky—and that roll of two-dollar bills she won has never since left her side. Jodie thrived in the warmth of her...
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) October 15, 2024
One of the few indisputable geniuses of pop music, Sly Stone is a trailblazer and a legend. He created a new kind of music, mixing Black and white, male and female, funk and rock. As a songwriter, he penned some of the most iconic anthems of the 1960s and ’70s, from “Everyday People” to “Family...
A Thousand Threads October 8, 2024
Born in Sweden in 1964, Neneh Cherry’s father Ahmadu was a musician from Sierra Leone. Her mother, Moki, was a twenty-one-year-old Swedish textile artist. Her parents split up just after Neneh was born, and not long afterwards Moki met and fell in love with acclaimed jazz musician Don Cherry....
How Women Made Music October 1, 2024
Drawn from NPR Music’s acclaimed, groundbreaking series *Turning the Tables*, the definitive book on the vital role of women in music—from Beyoncé to Odetta, Taylor Swift to Joan Baez, Joan Jett to Dolly Parton—featuring archival interviews, essays, photographs, and illustrations.
*Turning the...
Zerox Machine June 6, 2024
Zerox Machine is an immersive journey through the vibrant history of British punk and its associated fanzines from 1976 to 1988. Drawing on an extensive range of previously unpublished materials sourced from private collections across the United Kingdom, Matthew Worley describes and analyzes this...
The Jazzmen May 7, 2024
This is the story of three revolutionary American musicians, the maestro jazzmen who orchestrated the chords that throb at the soul of twentieth-century America. Duke Ellington, the grandson of slaves who was christened Edward Kennedy Ellington, was a man whose story is as layered and nuanced as his...
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) October 17, 2023
One of the few indisputable geniuses of pop music, Sly Stone is a trailblazer and a legend. He created a new kind of music, mixing Black and white, male and female, funk and rock. As a songwriter, he penned some of the most iconic anthems of the 1960s and ’70s, from “Everyday People” to “Family...
Year of the Monkey September 24, 2019
Following a run of New Year's concerts at San Francisco's legendary Fillmore, Patti Smith finds herself tramping the coast of Santa Cruz, about to embark on a year of solitary wandering. Unfettered by logic or time, she draws us into her private wonderland with no design, yet heeding...
Why Bob Dylan Matters November 21, 2017
When the Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Bob Dylan in 2016, a debate raged. Some celebrated, while many others questioned the choice. How could the world’s most prestigious book prize be awarded to a famously cantankerous singer-songwriter who wouldn’t even deign to attend the medal...
Absolutely on Music November 15, 2016
A deeply personal, intimate conversation about music and writing between the internationally acclaimed, best-selling author and the former conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
In Absolutely on Music, internationally Haruki Murakami sits down with his friend Seiji Ozawa, the revered former...
Girl in a Band February 24, 2015
For many, Kim Gordon is the epitome of cool: vocalist, bassist/guitarist and founding member of Sonic Youth—one of the most successful bands to emerge from the post-punk New York scene—despite being famously reserved. Ten years ago, Gordon distilled that coolness into her groundbreaking memoir, Girl...
Tripping the World Fantastic April 23, 2013
Every culture on Earth has music. Every culture that’s ever existed has had it, but we don’t exactly know why. Music is not like food, shelter, or having opposable thumbs. We don’t need it to live, and yet we can’t seem to live without it. Glenn Dixon travels the globe exploring how and why people...
Just Kids January 19, 2010
It was the summer Coltrane died, the summer of love and riots, and the summer when a chance encounter in Brooklyn led two young people on a path of art, devotion, and initiation.
Patti Smith would evolve as a poet and performer, and Robert Mapplethorpe would direct his highly provocative style...
Musicophilia September 23, 2008
In Musicophilia, he shows us a variety of what he calls “musical misalignments.” Among them: a man struck by lightning who suddenly desires to become a pianist at the age of forty-two; an entire group of children with Williams syndrome, who are hypermusical from birth; people with “amusia,” to whom...
Fargo Rock City May 1, 2002
With a voice like Ace Frehley’s guitar, Klosterman hacks his way through hair-band history, beginning with that fateful day in 1983 when his older brother brought home Mötley Crüe’s Shout at the Devil. The fifth-grade Chuck wasn’t quite ready to rock—his hair was too short and his farm was too...