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4.39 AVERAGE
4.39 AVERAGE
“Dads are not always men, and dads are not always fathers. Dads are simply there to raise you as best they can with the lessons and failures that have carried them … with stories they might forget they've told you before but will share again all the same. They will entrust you with beautiful melodies that will conjure flashes of a time that seemed easier only because you no longer have to live in the moment of how hard it felt then.”
I think I read this book the right way: I waited until I was the only one home and I blasted the music to go along with every chapter, and when I finished I took a break to process and feel before diving into the next section. There were essays that made me cry and also essays that I had trouble connecting to, but altogether they painted such a vivid picture of Niko‘s various homes and selves. In this way she too is a dad, passing on her hardest stories and her favorite singles ❤️
I think I read this book the right way: I waited until I was the only one home and I blasted the music to go along with every chapter, and when I finished I took a break to process and feel before diving into the next section. There were essays that made me cry and also essays that I had trouble connecting to, but altogether they painted such a vivid picture of Niko‘s various homes and selves. In this way she too is a dad, passing on her hardest stories and her favorite singles ❤️
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
While I couldn’t relate to every artist Stratis brings up, I still related a lot to our human relationship to popular music.
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Loved the themes enhanced by the musical chronology - especially the chapters focused on songs I also loved at formative ages! The author's experience with womanhood was very relateable to me. This memoir was an experience.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
informative
medium-paced
A brilliant playlist of a book, combining music criticism and personal essay. Stratis really knows her stuff, tracing popular and unexpected connections between songs, artists, and genres, and deftly weaving in vulnerable pieces of her own life. Her writing is clever, funny, and incredibly poignant throughout. The resulting mix is unique, personal, and a treat to read.
I appreciated her approach to dad rock as a genre, and dad as a gender role. In both cases, she opens these ideas up by focusing on a core of sincerity. Even if there is a distance -- never confirming how autobiographical a song is or isn't, feelings expressed through actions and not words -- Statis identifies supportive pillars of "dad-ness," unbound from narrow ideas of masculinity. You can find it in The Mountain Goats and Julien Baker as much as The Waterboys and Bruce Springsteen. You can find "dad-ness" in someone of any gender, and you'll certainly find plenty of men without a trace of it. It may not always be considered cool, but it's always there for you.
I appreciated her approach to dad rock as a genre, and dad as a gender role. In both cases, she opens these ideas up by focusing on a core of sincerity. Even if there is a distance -- never confirming how autobiographical a song is or isn't, feelings expressed through actions and not words -- Statis identifies supportive pillars of "dad-ness," unbound from narrow ideas of masculinity. You can find it in The Mountain Goats and Julien Baker as much as The Waterboys and Bruce Springsteen. You can find "dad-ness" in someone of any gender, and you'll certainly find plenty of men without a trace of it. It may not always be considered cool, but it's always there for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia
Moderate: Drug abuse, Misogyny, Sexual harassment
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
i think niko is one of the smartest women in the game & i really appreciated the nuanced sequencing, her life refracted through a lot of tunes i also hold dear, a newfound curiosity about a few bands i don't have much relation to, & piecing together her experience/theory of dad rock (and starting to consider my own) as the book unfolded.