SPIN
This week Spin Magazine published its list of the "best music books of 2013." After browsing the list, it is readily apparent that the title is misplaced. The list would be better called "The Best Music Biographies of 2013" or more aptly, "The Finest Non-Fiction Coffee Table Rock Books of 2013 with a Few Graphic Pictures Books Thrown in for Good Measure."
Coming up with the list must have been heart wrenching. One can hear the drama in the editorial room now.
Spin Associate Reader Dude: "I liked reading Michael Connelly's Trunk Music and have you ever heard of The Divine Dantes: Squirt Guns in Hades? It's about this two person band that has broken up and the guy goes off to Europe searching for her to get the band back together. Its the first book in a trilogy--"
Spin Grand Pooh-bah Editor: "Are there are lots of glossy pictures in the books?"
"Uh, no. They are novel.s"
"Then they deserve no place on the list!"
Spin Associate Reader Chick enters the editorial room. "I just loved The Rock Star's Daughter by Caitlyn Duffy. The cover could use some work, but I liked it. One Night with a Rock Star by Chana Keefer rocked, too. They are nice romance novels that involve rockers."
"Are there loads of cartoon drawings in the books?" asks the Spin Grand Pooh-bah Editor
"Uh, no. They are novels."
"Then they deserve no place on the list!"
"Oh, no. We forgot to put Gabba Gabba Hey: The Graphic Story of the Ramones on the list. Can we republish it?"
"Not a chance. Maybe next year the Ramones will publish a sequel. Yo Gabba Gabba: I Wanna Be Committed to the Ramones but Only in Graphical Way."
No one expects literary comments from those who review the lyrics of Mariah Carey and Brittany Spears and the Backstreet Boys for a living. But Spin readers deserve to at least be turned on to a few rock novels for their literary pleasure. There's always hope with the new year upon us.
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