Book description
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.
Matthew Miele created and developed the idea for
Lit Riffs in order to reinvent the musical experience through
literature. While a literary agent with John Hawkins & Associates,
Inc., he handpicked the hippest and most celebrated storytellers of
our time to imaginatively compose stories inspired by songs.
Prior to his publishing career, Miele wrote and directed the feature
film Everything's Jake -- due for release in fall 2004,
starring Ernie Hudson, Graeme Malcolm, Debbie Allen, Robin Givens, and
Lou Rawls -- and was a sound designer/music composer for film and
television.
Miele recently founded and is current host of the Manhattan Concert
Club (MCC), a subscription-based, ten-concert series presenting
intimate, acoustic performances by the world's most renowned recording
artists in a wide variety of Manhattan's most unique and treasured
settings. Miele hopes that every MCC Concert will reflect to true
music enthusiasts what the inception of the "Lit Riff" and
this groundbreaking collection ultimately will reflect as well -- a
renewed celebration of and appreciation for great music.
