David Menconi is an author, critic and journalist in Raleigh, North Carolina. A longtime newspaper writer, he has also written for Billboard, Rolling Stone, the New York Times, and Spin. His fifth and newest book is Oh, Didn’t They Ramble: Rounder Records and the Transformation of American Roots Music, a history of the venerable folk/bluegrass label that has been home to everyone from Alison Krauss to Buckwheat Zydeco.
Recently I asked the author about what he was reading. His reply:
Yellowface by R.F. KuangVisit the David Menconi’s blog.
In many ways, Yellowface is a crime novel – and the crime in question is perfect, at least at first. But this story of stolen literaryglory eventually mutates into a fascinatingly twisted portrait of a mind unraveling. It stars a first-person anti-hero whose justifications, rationalizations and outright fabrications bring on madness even as she tops the best-seller lists. After she is inevitably found out, she spirals further downward, her grasp of reality broken. But by the end, she’s still plotting one last comeback. Throw in some darkly funny dish about the publishing industry’s uneasy relationship with racism, and it’s a great yarn that manages to cover most of the seven deadly sins.
The Page 99 Test: Ryan Adams: Losering.
My Book, The Movie: Ryan Adams: Losering.
The Page 99 Test: Step It Up and Go.
The Page 99 Test: Oh, Didn't They Ramble.
My Book, The Movie: Oh, Didn't They Ramble.
--Marshal Zeringue
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