Hang the DJ: An Alternative Book of Music Lists

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The literary equivalent of a great dive bar jukebox–inspiring, provocative, irresistible, and the perfect gift for all music lovers.At the heart of all music fetishes, there are lists: ten essential female murder ballads, ten unsettling songs for a midwestern white guy to wake to from a coma, ten smutty Bob Dylan moments, and of course the ever-popular staple of all music lists (and listeners)–ten best breakup songs.Hang the DJ compiles what contributors might once have scribbled in the back of their textbooks or school folders, when they–like all of us at one point–were absolutely sure that they alone were the sole guardians of Musical Truth; that Sparks’ number two hit, “This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us,” really should have made it to the number one spot, that Gary Numan was merely a misshapen progeny of Bowie’s Thin White Duke persona, that female singer-songwriters are better than their male equivalents. Mixing anecdote, humor, reference, and sheer dorkiness–but with the bizarre insight of an anthropological study in pop-culture protocol–Hang the DJ is a collection of lists about musical loves, hates, dreams, and nightmares from music-lovers such as Rick Moody, Jonathan Lethem, Simon Reynolds, Ali Smith, Amanda Petrusich, and many other bloggers, journalists, novelists, poets, and musicians.

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