review07: booklist

From Booklist, the magazine of the American Library Association:

Rather than be fettered by silly traditions like choosing with regard to the music and performers limned, “the only full-time rock critic, experienced music editor, or for that matter professional journalist ever to assemble one of these books” (i.e., Robert Christgau) selected what he thought was well written. So the book is full of good writing. What about the music discussed? Michaelangelo Matos contributes a deeper look than most fans have probably taken at “Love Child,” one of the Supremes’ last smash hits; Sasha Freer-Jones assesses Mariah Carey’s career; and Jay Boronski considers “classic rock that rocks” in a wandering piece that must have a point, or the irascible Mr. C wouldn’t have included it. Kelefa Sannen writes affectionately of Gangsta Gumbo, New Orleans’ brand of hip-hop; Richard Hell eulogizes CBGB’s and all that it wrought; and Dylan Hicks makes Barbra Streisand-obsessed fans seem interesting. Throw in Jonathan Lethem’s “epic portrait of James Brown,” whom Christgau calls “the greatest rock and roll musician of all time,” and this reliable, occasionally vital series delivers another winner. – Booklist (November 1)