Synopses & Reviews
In
Fever, music critic Tim Riley argues that while political and athletic role models have let us down, rock and roll has provided enduring role models for men and women. From Elvis Presley to Tina Turner to Bruce Springsteen to Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, Riley makes a persuasive case that rock and roll, far from the corrosive force that conservative critics make it out to be, has instead been a positive influence in people's lives, laying out gender-defying role models far more enduringly than movies, TV, or "real life."
Review
"Tim Rileys
Fever is a fascinating look at the ways rock has shaped how we think about sexual identity in America. Riley presents serious academic points within a rock critic analysis of icons that even a layperson would appreciate. Gender is only the starting off point for Riley though: Fever also touches upon many of the great albums of the past thirty years-from the Beatles to Bruce Springsteen-and Riley uses this framework to bounce off astute, incisive writing. Whether hes dissecting 'Tears of a Clown,' or calling Michael Jackson a 'product of pop gone crazy,' Riley is always witty, acerbic, and smart."
-Charles R. Cross
In this new book, Fever, he goes beyond his unique fusion of technical musical knowledge and stunningly perceptive emotional exegesis of lyrics to a wider-angled social vision that focuses in good part on the glorious complexities-societal as well as musical-of the "girl-group" sound, from the Chantels and the Exciters to Chrissie Hynde.
Mr. Riley is at his very best when he comes to what Spector and Veronica Bennett (later Veronica Spector) achieved with the Ronettes. Indeed, he writes one of the best single passages Ive ever read about one of the ultimate girl-group songs: a passage that focuses on the breathtaking wordless opening of "Be My Baby," with its dangerous heart-arrhythmia of cathartic beats: the ones Mr. Riley transliterates as "Boom! ... boom-boom BLAM!"
- Ron Rosenbaum, The New York Observer
Review
"Riley is at his very best."—
The New York Observer"Tim Riley's Fever combines brainy and audacious cultural analysis with genuine musical understanding--a combination rare enough to inspire exhilaration."—Tim Page, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Tim Page on Music
"In his new book, Fever, Tim Riley goes beyond his unique fusion of technical music knowledge and stunningly perceptive emotional exegesis of lyrics to a wider-angle social vision."—Ron Rosenbaum, The New York Observer
"Fever is a fascinating look at the ways rock has shaped how we think about sexual identity....Riley presents serious academic points within a rock-critic analysis of icons that even a layperson would appreciate....Witty, acerbic, and smart."—Charles R. Cross, author of Heavier Than Heaven
Synopsis
An insightful look at how rock & roll has changed the way men and women think about themselves--and each other.
About the Author
Tim Riley is the author of
Tell Me Why and
Hard Rain. His commentary on pop culture has appeared in
The Washington Post,
Boston magazine, T
he Boston Phoenix,
Salon, and
Feed. He is currently the pop critic for NPRs
Here and Now. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.