Elvis Costello

One of the few audio books I've listened too recently. Greatly enjoyed hearing it in the artist's voice and accents (including his impression of Johnny Cash). I was very impressed with Costello's depth of music knowledge. The chapters are not always chronological, but are neatly fitted together for the most part. The stretches back to his grandfather's time were less entertaining for me, but not overly indulgent. Every collaboration, album, and mistake can be found here. Highly recommended for music fans.… (more)

This is a very interesting book, and particularly in those chapters in which Elvis Costello discusses, at some length, his musical forebears, to wit , his father and grandfather, but also the gloriously catholic assortment of musicians with whom he has collaborated. I was especially interested to hear (which probably says something about the way my hamster wheel of a mind operates) that the reference to the Quisling Clinic in "Green Shirt" does indeed refer to the former medical offices in my hometown of Madison, Wisconsin, which he saw when he played Bunky's in 1976 and stayed at the Edgewater Hotel. As Mr. Costello points out, the name "Quisling" has a different connotation for a northern European of his age, that of Vikdun Quisling, the Norwegian Nazi collaborator; indeed, the word quisling , according to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition , now means "traitor" or "collaborator." I listened to the audiobook, read by Elvis Costello himself, who does a wonderful job of reciting his own engaging prose.… (more)