It\u2019s an odd feeling to read a book which promises information about a specific subject, and find yourself scratching around for crumbs. This edition of the 33 1\/3 <\/i>series is ostensibly about Bob Mould\u2019s Workbook<\/i>, and finds the authors eschewing the traditional music book format in favour of a series of conversational letters between themselves.<\/p>\n
Nice idea. Unfortunately, the letter format causes much repetition, as each writer summarises the other\u2019s key points, and they seem not to have considered how the letters will read back-to-back. The writing often lacks focus, with too much space devoted to superfluous tangents, and both writers repeatedly make the fundamental mistake of losing sight of their audience.<\/p>\n
They are prone to talking around Workbook <\/i>rather than about it, using it as a springboard to explore themselves and their understandings of one another. In making an eloquent observation about the album, Biggins unwittingly also describes precisely what is wrong with this book: \u201cTo my ears, Workbook <\/i>confuses the artist\u2019s needs with the audience\u2019s, to its detriment.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the positive side, there\u2019s an interesting discussion about Mould\u2019s obfuscating use of words; there are some interesting comments from Workbook bassist Tony Maimone, and cellist Jane Scarpantoni discusses her first meeting with Mould, and her regrets about turning down the offer of touring with him. There are also some words from the man himself. However, whereas the authors refer to a \u201clong, great interview with Bob Mould\u201d conducted three days after the death of David Bowie, very little of this seems to have made it into the book.<\/p>\n
Itself a workbook of ideas, scraps and notions, this is one for the writers, not the readers. It shines a brighter light on its authors than it does on Bob Mould.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s an odd feeling to read a book which promises information about a specific subject, and find yourself scratching around for crumbs. This edition of the 33 1\/3 series is ostensibly about Bob Mould\u2019s Workbook, and finds the authors eschewing the traditional music book format in favour of a series of conversational letters between themselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8023,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,16],"tags":[585],"issue":[10093],"class_list":["post-193482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book","category-reviews","tag-various-artists","issue-january-2018"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n