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219 reviews for:
Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man's Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut
Rob Sheffield
3.54 AVERAGE
219 reviews for:
Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man's Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut
Rob Sheffield
3.54 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
This book has been on my shelf for a while because I thought it would be a fun read; I like 80s culture and a memoir so this was a combination of those two things. Unfortunately, this was a little heavy into the 80s music history for my liking. I wanted more general 80s culture and more memoir and less music history. And I know this might not be possible because of copyright, but it would have been really cool for the audiobook to contain at least clips of the songs that were discussed. That being said, if you love 80s music, you will probably really enjoy this one.
This book counts for Popsugar 2023 for a book set in the decade I was born and for Bookland for February 2023 for a nonfiction challenge book.
This book counts for Popsugar 2023 for a book set in the decade I was born and for Bookland for February 2023 for a nonfiction challenge book.
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
I love how he writes about music, it makes total sense to me
Another fantastic bit from Sheffield about one of my favorite bands.
Darf ich euch vorstellen: meine erste große Liebe, die es auch immer sein wird und willkommen zu meinen Lieblingsautoren. Ich verstehe wie er Musik wahrnimmt und wäre so gern ein Teil dieser Welt. Niemand schreibt so gut über Musik
I was excited to read this, as I really liked the author's previous book, Love is a Mixtape. Plus, I like 80s music and reading memoirs about music. However, this book rubbed me the wrong way from the start, and I gave up pretty early on. Perhaps I didn't give it a fair shot, but all of his observations seemed to be based on ridiculous gender stereotypes about music. I got particularly annoyed when he was talking about The Clash (a band that boy's like, according to the author), and says how girls particularly like the song "Train in Vain" even if they usually think it is called "Stand by Me".
Eff you, Rob. My vagina does not prevent me from enjoying The Clash (or any other bands/genres), and neither does it prevent me from caring about the correct titles of songs.
I enjoyed this and remembered a lot of the music. The book should have had accompanying audio-files/soundtrack.
I own Sheffield's earlier memoir but haven't quite gotten around to reading it. This one, however, I went through pretty much as soon as I brought it home. I figured it would be much more upbeat and certainly relateable. Context/confession: I was a hardcore Durannie back in the day. I also later listened to a lot of the same new wave etc music that Sheffield did.
Sheffield is five years older than I am, which is close enough. I'm not sure, however, how well this would resonate with a reader from a completely different generation. Being an 80s teen is enough; he does cover a range of genres, including hair metal and early rap. (Duran Duran actually only appear in the first and last chapters.) There is also a lot more to it than music. All the confused coming-of-age basics.
The cheesy lyric-based humor can wear thin, but quite a lot of the writing is genuinely funny. He manages to be self-deprecating without wallowing in self-mockery, which not every light memoirist manages to carry off.
I had particular thrills of recognition (if also some embarrassment) at mentions of The Wraith and a whole chapter on cassingles, crucially including Bust a Move. There is also an extended discussions of John Hughes films (of course) and why the movie Airplane didn't translate worth a darn into Spanish.
I did have some quibbles with Sheffield's denial that I ever existed -- a fan whose favorite Duran Duran member was Andy and whose favorite track was Save a Prayer. Must have been an east coast thing. And thank goodness that he clarified in the acknowledgements that he got the clap-clap thing wrong. That was bugging me.
Sheffield is five years older than I am, which is close enough. I'm not sure, however, how well this would resonate with a reader from a completely different generation. Being an 80s teen is enough; he does cover a range of genres, including hair metal and early rap. (Duran Duran actually only appear in the first and last chapters.) There is also a lot more to it than music. All the confused coming-of-age basics.
The cheesy lyric-based humor can wear thin, but quite a lot of the writing is genuinely funny. He manages to be self-deprecating without wallowing in self-mockery, which not every light memoirist manages to carry off.
I had particular thrills of recognition (if also some embarrassment) at mentions of The Wraith and a whole chapter on cassingles, crucially including Bust a Move. There is also an extended discussions of John Hughes films (of course) and why the movie Airplane didn't translate worth a darn into Spanish.
I did have some quibbles with Sheffield's denial that I ever existed -- a fan whose favorite Duran Duran member was Andy and whose favorite track was Save a Prayer. Must have been an east coast thing. And thank goodness that he clarified in the acknowledgements that he got the clap-clap thing wrong. That was bugging me.
Last week I was jonesing for a book to read, but my library holds weren't in yet - so I downloaded an app to my iphone and downloaded this book from the library. It was a quick read about music and growing up and girls (more sisters & friends than actual girlfriends) and the only thing that really resonated with me was his stories of growing up Catholic, as I did. I too was shocked as a teenager at finding out that pop stars and movie stars actually had pre-marital sex, so I could chuckle with the author about that. It's fluff, but look at the subject matter.