Rob Sheffield

The best-selling author of Love Is a Mix Tape traces his adolescence in the 1980s, a journey during which pop culture trends marked his transformation from a reclusive geek to an independent young man with a first girlfriend.

One Young Man's Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut

Talking to Girls about Duran Duran

Jeannette Ordas

Last week I was jonesing for a book to read, but my library holds weren't in yet - so I downloaded an app to my iphone and downloaded this book from the library. It was a quick read about music and growing up and girls (more sisters & friends than actual girlfriends) and the only thing that really resonated with me was his stories of growing up Catholic, as I did. I too was shocked as a teenager at finding out that pop stars and movie stars actually had pre-marital sex, so I could chuckle with the author about that. It's fluff, but look at the subject matter.

From the bestselling author of Love Is a Mix Tape and Turn Around Bright Eyes, "a funny, insightful look at the sublime torture of adolescence".—Entertainment Weekly The 1980s meant MTV and John Hughes movies, big dreams and bigger shoulder pads, and millions of teen girls who nursed crushes on the members of Duran Duran. As a solitary teenager stranded in the suburbs, Rob Sheffield had a lot to learn about women, love, music, and himself. And he was sure his radio had all the answers. As evidenced by the bestselling sales of Sheffield's first book, Love Is a Mix Tape, the connection between music and memory strikes a chord with readers. Talking to Girls About Duran Duran strikes that chord all over again, and is a pitch-perfect trip through '80s music-from Bowie to Bobby Brown, from hair metal to hip-hop. But this book is not just about music. It's about growing up and how every song is a snapshot of a moment that you'll remember the rest of your life.

Talking to Girls About Duran Duran

Tracey O’Rourke

I can’t imagine anyone who didn’t grow up in the ages being interested in this book, but being one of those who did, I enjoyed it and it more often than not brought a smile to my face. This is not a book about Duran Duran, per se. This is the memoir of a writer for Rolling Stone of coming of age in the eighties and the impact of music on him and the time. Each chapter is a vignette of his life, then or now, and the impact of music on that life. Either that or it is a dissection of the music or the musicians he was listening to. Any of us can think of similar moments in our lives, connected to music. Those of us who grew up in the eighties can do it with the songs he discusses. Often I would smile just at the chapter title, for example Purple Rain, remembering the impact of that song and that album and the moments in my life when it was extremely relevant. 

The problem is that, while each of the chapters is interesting in their own right, as a whole the book doesn’t add up to a cohesive story. Some chapters are more about the author, like the Prince chapter, some are more about the music or artists, like the Paul McCartney. Each are entertaining in their own right, but what is the ultimate message? That it was hard to grow up in the eighties? That music plays a big part in our lives? I’m not sure what the ultimate message is. It seems to me that the author was successful with his first book, Love is a Mix Tape, about his wife and her sudden death, and he was asked to write another. This seems to be the classic, well, what else can I tell you about myself.

This is not to say that I did not enjoy this book, I did very much. But this is because it brought me back to my youth in the eighties. As he mentioned songs and albums, they brought me back to the moments in my life that I was listening to them. Dancing with a boy to Purple Rain, rocking out in the car to Kiss (the song, not the band). I remembered stalking the record store and asking Rod what should I buy next. Having the same love affair with music that he did. One that has long mellowed. I don’t remember the last time I bought a full album, but then who does anymore? I haven’t even bought all that many singles lately. But as with Rob Sheffield, these songs defined my youth, and it is engaging to read how they defined his.

The author of "Love Is a Mix Tape" shares the soundtrack to his 1980s adolescence. These were the years of MTV and John Hughes movies; and, like any all-American boy, Sheffield was searching for true love and maybe a cooler haircut.

Kourtney

Maybe it was because I was a child of the 80's and not a teenager in the 80's, but to me this book was just ok. Every chapter was centered around a different song that evoked a memory for Sheffield, and every chapter had one line that made me laugh out loud (yes - only one line). The chapter on cassingles made me laugh more than once though (because who didn't love a cassingle! And my sisters and I shared quite a few of the cassingles he owned. I still own them as a matter of fact!), so for that I give this book 3 solid stars.

Talking to Girls about Duran Duran One Young Man's Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut

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