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3.2 AVERAGE
3.2 AVERAGE
This book made me laugh out loud on the subway. I think it will amuse anyone who has ever held down a corporate job. Although it's very funny, it's also somewhat depressing, dealing as it does with corporate b.s. and the death of the music business as those of us over 30 grew up thinking of it. The farsical book group discussion questions he made up himself are spot-on.
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
what I learned from this book: I should not read this book on the bus because I will start laughing loudly within two paragraphs.
Funny stories about why the corporate music industry has failed (greed and stupidity). I did laugh out loud at times while reading this book. Man, the music industry sucks.
Not nearly as funny I'd hoped it would be after reading the blurbs on the front/back. It's way too scattered, unfocused and all over the place. There are some funny bits but they are just quick bursts that can't maintain their humor past a few lines here and there. Kennedy writes about what it's like to work for a major label in the music industry during the beginning of the downfall of the industry, but he goes way off topic too many times and his stories are so thinly constructed that there is little depth or weight to them. Also, being so undeveloped, it almost felt like Kennedy wasn't even employed all that long there (less than two years?). You'd hoped he would have MORE funny stories to tell than the sparse few that he does write about in Rock On. DIsappointment.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/22/rock-on-an-office-power-ballad/
This review originally appeared in the ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
Rock On: An Office Power Ballad
Vince Darcangelo, Special to the Rocky
Published February 22, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
* Nonfiction. By Dan Kennedy. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, $14.95. Grade: B+
Book in a nutshell: Kennedy, a regular contributor to McSweeney's and author of the comedic memoir Loser Goes First, writes a riotously funny chronicle of his year-and-a- half stint in the music business.
Kennedy begins by establishing himself as a music geek of the first order, one who wore a homemade Kiss costume every Halloween and was stealing his sister's Led Zeppelin records by age 10. So when he takes a job as director of creative development at Atlantic Records, he's disappointed to learn that, behind the scenes, the music industry is more about office politics than power chords.
For starters, Kennedy gets off on the wrong foot with his future boss in a bizarre disagreement concerning a chocolate-chip muffin confused for blueberry. He suffers the usual workplace malaise (induced by the type of meetings lampooned on The Office) but also encounters unique sources of on-the-job humiliation (having to design an ad campaign for easy-listening crooner Phil Collins, getting tattled on by rock band The Donnas).
However, there's an even more ominous cloud than the figurative corporate takeover of rock 'n' roll hanging over Kennedy: the literal kind of corporate takeover, which could result in massive layoffs, including his own.
Best tidbit: "Look, I know I'm marred with a good old-fashioned alcoholic lust for career suicide, and I know by now you've figured out that I'm a pessimist hard-wired to fail, just like any other semitalented malcontent burdened by self-absorption, minor chemical imbalance and the guilt of wasting years, but you have to admit that this is shaping up to look like the end."
Pros: Kennedy's running commentary is hysterical, and his thoughtful inner monologue makes this a page- turner, more than a few times inducing laugh-out-loud moments followed by a whisper of "That's sooo my office."
Cons: The book ends abruptly - very abruptly. Once Kennedy's tenure with Atlantic is finished, there remain only a few short chapters and a snapshot of Jimmy Page in a business suit meant to illustrate the fait accompli of the corporatization of rock 'n' roll. I would have liked a bit more closure.
Final word: Kennedy has written a hilarious and enjoyable read that belongs on the bookshelf of every fan of the self-deprecating hipster memoir.
This review originally appeared in the ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
Rock On: An Office Power Ballad
Vince Darcangelo, Special to the Rocky
Published February 22, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
* Nonfiction. By Dan Kennedy. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, $14.95. Grade: B+
Book in a nutshell: Kennedy, a regular contributor to McSweeney's and author of the comedic memoir Loser Goes First, writes a riotously funny chronicle of his year-and-a- half stint in the music business.
Kennedy begins by establishing himself as a music geek of the first order, one who wore a homemade Kiss costume every Halloween and was stealing his sister's Led Zeppelin records by age 10. So when he takes a job as director of creative development at Atlantic Records, he's disappointed to learn that, behind the scenes, the music industry is more about office politics than power chords.
For starters, Kennedy gets off on the wrong foot with his future boss in a bizarre disagreement concerning a chocolate-chip muffin confused for blueberry. He suffers the usual workplace malaise (induced by the type of meetings lampooned on The Office) but also encounters unique sources of on-the-job humiliation (having to design an ad campaign for easy-listening crooner Phil Collins, getting tattled on by rock band The Donnas).
However, there's an even more ominous cloud than the figurative corporate takeover of rock 'n' roll hanging over Kennedy: the literal kind of corporate takeover, which could result in massive layoffs, including his own.
Best tidbit: "Look, I know I'm marred with a good old-fashioned alcoholic lust for career suicide, and I know by now you've figured out that I'm a pessimist hard-wired to fail, just like any other semitalented malcontent burdened by self-absorption, minor chemical imbalance and the guilt of wasting years, but you have to admit that this is shaping up to look like the end."
Pros: Kennedy's running commentary is hysterical, and his thoughtful inner monologue makes this a page- turner, more than a few times inducing laugh-out-loud moments followed by a whisper of "That's sooo my office."
Cons: The book ends abruptly - very abruptly. Once Kennedy's tenure with Atlantic is finished, there remain only a few short chapters and a snapshot of Jimmy Page in a business suit meant to illustrate the fait accompli of the corporatization of rock 'n' roll. I would have liked a bit more closure.
Final word: Kennedy has written a hilarious and enjoyable read that belongs on the bookshelf of every fan of the self-deprecating hipster memoir.
Loved it! Laughed so hard I cried, which is kind of awkward on the express bus home from work ;)
Kennedy's memoir of working at a record company during the beginning of the decline. Fairly entertaining when he's talking about the absurdness of his work, and of the general absurdity of office life. Not laugh out loud funny, but occasional chuckle funny. The parts where he talks about the shortcomings in his own personality aren't interesting. In fact, I'm not really sure I'd want to hang out with the guy, ever. He's just too needy and skittish. This is ultimately not a deep substantive book, but parts of it were entertaining, and I am not sorry that I read it.
I don't think people realize the extent of the revolutionary times we are living in. True, there are no skirmishes in the streets (at least not where I live in Portland, Oregon) but before our eyes (and ears) the way people have found and obtained music for more than 50 years is crumbling before our eyes. I'm not sorry. While I mostly reject anarchy and embrace institutions that provide services (roads, education, food etc.) the record company has always been "the man" to me. Sure they find and help bring fabulous songs and artists to the rest of the country. But the amount of money they make off of said artists is obscene. The conversion of music from something to be purchased on a record/tape/CD to a digital file has the companies on their knees and I can't say I'm sorry to see the greedy bastards in desperate shape.
My ideal music world would have the artists who create music I love fairly compensated for their creations. If, in this ideal music world some other people want to help bring along that creation and take a small part of the profit, I'm fine with that too. Small is the operative word. I think this future is not far off and it does not include the institutions I so despise.
Dan Kennedy worked for one such institution for 18 months. He chronicles his time served in humorous prose and sparkling anecdotes. There are several laugh-out-loud moments as well as more evidence that we all should stick it to the man, while still supporting our musician friends. The chapter containing the Iggy Pop concert was electric. Kennedy is a wordy writer in the vein of Dave Eggers and I found my eyes glazing in some portions, but that shouldn't detract you from his adventures. Bonus "Reading Group" questions are hilarious.
My ideal music world would have the artists who create music I love fairly compensated for their creations. If, in this ideal music world some other people want to help bring along that creation and take a small part of the profit, I'm fine with that too. Small is the operative word. I think this future is not far off and it does not include the institutions I so despise.
Dan Kennedy worked for one such institution for 18 months. He chronicles his time served in humorous prose and sparkling anecdotes. There are several laugh-out-loud moments as well as more evidence that we all should stick it to the man, while still supporting our musician friends. The chapter containing the Iggy Pop concert was electric. Kennedy is a wordy writer in the vein of Dave Eggers and I found my eyes glazing in some portions, but that shouldn't detract you from his adventures. Bonus "Reading Group" questions are hilarious.
A grimly funny memoir about his days working for a record company which is on its last legs, miles away from its former glory days.