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maureenroe42 's review for:
Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink
by Elvis Costello
Good read. Very interesting and comprehensive autobiography. My big complaint is that he jumps in the timeline pretty frequently, which can make it hard to follow at times. And with a book as long as this one, the constant jump in timeline can be a bit frustrating.
It was interesting the things in his life he focused on, and the things he didn't expand on at all. Like, there is quite a lot about his first wife, Mary, a fair amount about Diana Krall, and just 2 or 3 pages about Cait O'Riordan. Their relationship was long enough, I guess I expected more on that, particularly since he seems to have had a different frame of mind during that relationship.
He tells some interesting anecdotes. He sounds confident, but gives false modesty each time he is "surprised" by an interaction with a famous person - Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Allen Toussaint, etc. But those characters in the story pop up frequently.
The book also made me aware of a personality quirk - he seems to love quoting lyrics, even his own. He mentions numerous time where he quoted an artists' lyrics back to him. The book exposed what a huge music fan Elvis is, and I loved reading the passages where he would discuss musicians or music. He's a fan.
I also thought it was interesting how much more of the book was devoted to his father, rather than his mother, particularly since he mentions on numerous occasions his father's philandering and that his father was gone a lot. Reading this made me feel like he was the more important person to Elvis, but frankly, I found his mother to be the more interesting and compelling person in his life. It was pretty clear he desperately wanted his absent father's approval. It made me kind of sad.
It was interesting the things in his life he focused on, and the things he didn't expand on at all. Like, there is quite a lot about his first wife, Mary, a fair amount about Diana Krall, and just 2 or 3 pages about Cait O'Riordan. Their relationship was long enough, I guess I expected more on that, particularly since he seems to have had a different frame of mind during that relationship.
He tells some interesting anecdotes. He sounds confident, but gives false modesty each time he is "surprised" by an interaction with a famous person - Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Allen Toussaint, etc. But those characters in the story pop up frequently.
The book also made me aware of a personality quirk - he seems to love quoting lyrics, even his own. He mentions numerous time where he quoted an artists' lyrics back to him. The book exposed what a huge music fan Elvis is, and I loved reading the passages where he would discuss musicians or music. He's a fan.
I also thought it was interesting how much more of the book was devoted to his father, rather than his mother, particularly since he mentions on numerous occasions his father's philandering and that his father was gone a lot. Reading this made me feel like he was the more important person to Elvis, but frankly, I found his mother to be the more interesting and compelling person in his life. It was pretty clear he desperately wanted his absent father's approval. It made me kind of sad.