So, I sometimes wish there were endless hours to read (kind of like that scary Twilight Zone episode right before the poor man's glasses break) but, as a late, I rarely have time to read a book in a few sittings. This week, though, I read ?uestlove's new memoir, Mo' Meta Blues, in 24 hours. I could not put it down. The layout is strange, the way I described it to one of my students is it's kind of like Nelson George meets Junot Diaz. Part-narrative, part-email correspondence, part-footnote interjection, the book is as much about improvisation as the best music is. I also have an affinity for passion that spills over into nerdiness and complete devotion to craft, which pretty much sums up who ?uestlove has turned out to be. He's a musical mastermind, of course, but just a fierce, intimate lover of music as well. He's like a quasi-R&B/Hip-hop/Neo soul encyclopedia and he's made me return to my own stacks in search of some of the nuances I loved and have missed (Prince's Housequake and D'Angelo's The Root are in heavy rotation this morning).
I'm working on revision today. Still hammering out pieces for a newish manuscript called Starlight and Error (I read a few of the new poems from the new manuscript at the Library of Congress a few weeks back, listen to the podcast here). Much of the work takes its cue from the music of my life, so ?uestlove delving into the crates of memory and melody was right on time. If you're a music lover or just like to hear an obsessive mind recount the multi-layered brilliances of his obsessions, get your hands on the book ASAP.
