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trilobiter 's review for:
Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink
by Elvis Costello
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Elvis Costello is one of the most creative musicians of our time, and he's one hell of a writer too. Naturally, I enjoyed his book a whole lot. It's easy to imagine that some one who lacked familiarity with, or affection for, the author's work might find less to appreciate. But his insight into human fallibility, especially his own, should make for a fascinating read for anybody with curiosity toward that subject. And his broad knowledge of music history, coupled with his genuinely universal taste in good records, removes Unfaithful Music beyond the realm of simple memoir.
Structurally, this book is more like a series of thematic reminiscences in essay form than a straight autobiography. The chronology is loose, skipping back and forth between different decades between and within chapters, while retaining something like forward momentum. Costello/MacManus (the author often seems to regard his stage name as a bewildering accident) leads us from his youth to his maturity while leaving interesting threads hanging. Usually he gets back to them later, without indicating he's in any sort of hurry to wrap everything up. There's anecdotes galore, many of them pertaining to his high regard for every musician but himself and how mortified he was about his own choices. Contemporary Elvis seems much more at ease in his own skin, but he's not likely to let his past selves off the hook any time soon.
Structurally, this book is more like a series of thematic reminiscences in essay form than a straight autobiography. The chronology is loose, skipping back and forth between different decades between and within chapters, while retaining something like forward momentum. Costello/MacManus (the author often seems to regard his stage name as a bewildering accident) leads us from his youth to his maturity while leaving interesting threads hanging. Usually he gets back to them later, without indicating he's in any sort of hurry to wrap everything up. There's anecdotes galore, many of them pertaining to his high regard for every musician but himself and how mortified he was about his own choices. Contemporary Elvis seems much more at ease in his own skin, but he's not likely to let his past selves off the hook any time soon.