Rock Stars Stole My Life by Mark Ellen review – misty-eyed, touchingly nerdy memoir

From the mud and thunder of early festivals to Live Aid and Rihanna, music journalist Mark Ellen was usually in the right place at the right timeMark Ellen surveys the happy youngsters comfortably cavorting at Glastonbury, marvelling at Primal Scream beneath a harvest moon. “You bastards,” moans the music journalist and editor, recalling his nascent festival experiences in the early 1970s, of trench foot, scurvy and Van der Graaf Generator. “You don’t know how lucky you are.”Still, there’s a misty-eyed reverence for the past in Ellen’s entertaining memoir of five decades surrounded by music – which is to be expected. This, after all, is the man who launched Mojo magazine after realising there was a potential readership who liked music that was “magical and built to last”. For Ellen, the magic began with the discovery of the Beatles and the Kinks, Small Faces and Chicken Shack. Like a character from Jonathan Coe’s novel The Rotters’ Club, his comfortable 60s and 70s adolescence discussing the meaning of prog is ditched for a squat in Battersea, where he begins to pen florid gig reviews for Record Mirror and NME.  Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2015-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #jonathan coe

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Rock Stars Stole My Life by Mark Ellen review – misty-eyed, touchingly nerdy memoir'


The 10 Most-Read Book Reviews of 2023

In 2023, as we do each year, we published thousands of reviews of thousands of new books. But of all the reviews we published, these are the 10 you read the most. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-12-14 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Pope Francis' New Book Bears His Personal Touch

Harper Collins execs reveal the pope's hands-on touch from the cover choice to the marketing goals for 'Life, My Story Through History.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-12-13 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #pope francis #personal touch


AIDS Activist’s Memoir Captures History

‘Love is Greater Than AIDS’ (R&L, Apr.), a memoir by the late Rev. A. Stephen Pieters, describes his watershed interview with Tammy Faye Bakker in 1985 as well as decades of AIDS activism. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-12-13 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #memoir


Novelist's book is canceled after she acknowledges 'review bombs' of other writers

A debut author who used fake accounts to “review bomb” other writers on the influential online platform Goodreads has been dropped by her agent and had her book deal cancelled Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2023-12-13 02:46:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fake accounts #book deal #debut author


Cait Corrain apologizes, checks into rehab after Goodreads 'review bombing' rival authors

First-time author Cait Corrain has apologized on X and announced she is going to rehab after losing her book deal and agent for 'review bombing' on Goodreads. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-12-12 22:43:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book deal


The 10 Best Book Reviews of 2023

Good book criticism is booming right now. I have at least some degree of confidence in saying this because for the past six years, I’ve been keeping track of my favorite reviews to prepare for these annual roundups, and my 2023 longlist was by far the biggest and most difficult to narrow down.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-12-11 12:47:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book reviews #keeping track #good book


Audiobook Review: ‘Songs on Endless Repeat,’ by Anthony Veasna So

Keong Sim reads the audiobook version of the author’s second posthumous collection, “Songs on Endless Repeat.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-12-08 13:52:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #audiobook review #anthony veasna #audiobook version #posthumous collection #audiobook


When Eye-Reading Just Isn’t Working

Here are some ways to keep reading when your eyes just don't want to cooperate, even if you don’t have access to audiobook versions. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-12-06 11:32:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #audiobook versions #audiobook


Wiley Second Quarter Marked by Rightsizing Efforts

As part of its efforts to create a leaner and more profitable company, Wiley began its restructuring plan in the second quarter, which included consolidating some functions and selling assets. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-12-06 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #restructuring plan #selling assets


A poignant memoir unfolds the struggle of Cuban Jewish exiles

In “Dwell Time: A Memoir of Art, Exile, and Repair,” Rosa Lowinger writes with compassion about the dislocation her parents experienced after leaving Cuba for the U.S. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2023-12-05 17:16:16 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #memoir


Can Liz Cheney defeat 'Orange Jesus'? Her anti-Trump book sure feels like a campaign memoir

In 'Oath and Honor,' Rep. Liz Cheney exposes the actions of Kevin McCarthy and other Jan. 6 enablers of Donald Trump, but fails to compel readers. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-12-04 20:11:02 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #anti-trump book #memoir


Dion Graham and AudioFile’s 2023 Best Biography and Memoir Audiobooks

Narrator Dion Graham joins AudioFile’s Michele Cobb to discuss his narration of King: A Life, written by Jonathan Eig, and one of AudioFile’s 2023 Best Biography & Memoir Audiobooks. Listen to hear Graham discussing the research and preparations that went into this narration, and the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-12-04 09:08:51 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #dion graham #michele cobb #memoir


Audiobook Review: ‘Jezebel,’ by Megan Barnard

Perdita Weeks reads the audiobook version of Megan Barnard’s debut novel, reimagining the Israeli queen as a source of mythic, feminist anger. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-12-01 10:00:14 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #audiobook review #audiobook version #audiobook


Apple Books Names 2023 Bestsellers, Launches 'Year in Review' Feature

A new feature on Apple Books gives users Spotify Wrapped–style insights into their reading habits in 2023—a year in which Jack Carr, Prince Harry, Britney Spears, and Rebecca Yarros topped the Apple Books charts. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-28 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #reading habits #jack carr #prince harry #britney spears #apple books


Your definitive guide to Goodreads ratings. (Or: why does your favorite book have 3 stars?)

If you use Goodreads at all, you’ve likely noticed that the platform allows you to “rate” your “reads” using “stars” (those are scare quotes). If you use Goodreads regularly, you probably know that the ratings system is, in a word, fucked. Why does literally every Colleen Hoover book have over... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-21 17:28:32 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #definitive guide #favorite book


'Another kind of violence': 'Molly,' a memoir of a wife's suicide, never blinks

Blake Butler's first reaction to his wife's death by suicide was silence. Then he wrote the stark, indelible and beautifully written memoir, "Molly." Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-11-20 23:16:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #blake butler #memoir


Book Review: ‘Critical Hits,’ edited by J. Robert Lennon and Carmen Maria Machado

In the anthology “Critical Hits,” gamers like Hanif Abdurraqib, Alexander Chee and Larissa Pham explain what the medium means to them. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-11-20 10:00:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review #robert lennon #hanif abdurraqib #alexander chee #anthology


‘Going Infinite’ Audiobook Review: Michael Lewis Tells His Own Story of Sam Bankman-Fried

“Going Infinite” may have missed the big takeaway, but it offers at least one undeniable pleasure: deep access. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-11-17 14:25:02 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #audiobook review #sam bankman-fried #big takeaway #audiobook


David Ferry, Poet and Translator Who Won Acclaim Late in Life, Dies at 99

After nearly 40 years as a professor, he began a new career writing poems and translating classics. He won a National Book Award when he was 86. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-11-11 18:29:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #david ferry #national book award


Book Review: ‘The Manuscripts Club,’ by Christopher de Hamel

The bibliophiles in Christopher de Hamel’s lavishly illustrated book ensured the survival of medieval texts over centuries. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-11-11 10:00:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review #illustrated book