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Cold Pizza for Breakfast: A Mem-wha??
As one of the top folk musicians in the country, Christine Lavin has seen it all—and she still loves the music and the life she feels privileged to lead. Published in honor of her twenty-fifth anniversary as a full-time, independent touring musician, Cold Pizza for A Mem-wha? is a memoir of road stories and adventures across the United States, Canada, and Australia. “I’ve changed a few names to spare hurt feelings,” Christine notes, “but all these stories are true. Hey, I have eight brothers and sisters—you think they’d let me make things up?”
Cold Pizza is rich with details from two-plus decades of songwriting and performing. The memoir begins with the hysterical tale of Christine’s being booed in West Palm Beach when she opened for Joan Rivers—with a coda that demonstrates Christine's nimble mind and sense of the absurd—and recounts her circuitous route to becoming one of folk music's most respected and beloved songwriters and performers. Christine “Instead of a business plan, I’ve followed hunches, my intuition, and my heart, and I have had the good fortune of meeting astounding people along the way who helped point me in the right direction. OK, a few pointed me in the wrong direction, too. But I always somehow managed to recover.”
Christine is an engaging and generous writer, often putting an informative and warm spotlight on other musicians. Learn delicious details about Dave Van Ronk's unique method of writing music, the stanza of a famous song that Bob Dylan had never heard, and how Ervin Drake came to write "It Was a Very Good Year." Read about the unlikely beginnings of the folk super-group "The Four Bitchin' Babes," still going strong today, and how Christine's music has found a home with some of today's brightest Broadway stars.
Photographs and memorabilia from Christine’s fantastic voyage, song lyrics, an extensive appendix including an index and Christine’s list of her 1,000 favorite songs that she has played while guest-DJing in New York City—all this combines with Christine’s incomparable sense of humor to make Cold Pizza for A Mem-wha? an irresistible read and an invaluable resource for anyone who is interested in how songs get made, how musicians learn, and the business of music.
Cold Pizza is rich with details from two-plus decades of songwriting and performing. The memoir begins with the hysterical tale of Christine’s being booed in West Palm Beach when she opened for Joan Rivers—with a coda that demonstrates Christine's nimble mind and sense of the absurd—and recounts her circuitous route to becoming one of folk music's most respected and beloved songwriters and performers. Christine “Instead of a business plan, I’ve followed hunches, my intuition, and my heart, and I have had the good fortune of meeting astounding people along the way who helped point me in the right direction. OK, a few pointed me in the wrong direction, too. But I always somehow managed to recover.”
Christine is an engaging and generous writer, often putting an informative and warm spotlight on other musicians. Learn delicious details about Dave Van Ronk's unique method of writing music, the stanza of a famous song that Bob Dylan had never heard, and how Ervin Drake came to write "It Was a Very Good Year." Read about the unlikely beginnings of the folk super-group "The Four Bitchin' Babes," still going strong today, and how Christine's music has found a home with some of today's brightest Broadway stars.
Photographs and memorabilia from Christine’s fantastic voyage, song lyrics, an extensive appendix including an index and Christine’s list of her 1,000 favorite songs that she has played while guest-DJing in New York City—all this combines with Christine’s incomparable sense of humor to make Cold Pizza for A Mem-wha? an irresistible read and an invaluable resource for anyone who is interested in how songs get made, how musicians learn, and the business of music.
419 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 1, 2021
How embarrassing! I'm a longtime fan of folksinger Christine Lavin and only recently tipped to the existence of an autobiography, published back in 2010. Snagged a copy for myself and my grad school buddy who first introduced me to Christine's music back in the day when she frequently played at Passim's in Cambridge, MA (we were living in Boston then). Flash forward several decades and we've seen Christine in super small places, larger places, at the Philly Folk Festival, solo, and along with the Four Bitchin' Babes. We've enjoyed her music in streaming concerts and festivals during the last 17+ months of the pandemic--including her NYE concert with Don White (cross-reference to his excellent Diary of a C-student). Long story short, Cold Pizza for Breakfast . . . will likely make more sense to folks who know her music (esp. the song "Cold Pizza for Breakfast"--duh) but, if for some reason you're unfamiliar with her considerable archive, please do yourself a favor and get busy doing some recon. Ms. Lavin's music is simultaneously hilarious, heartfelt, and not infrequently profound. She's also one heck of a generous artist who has lifted up, made connections for, and exhibited the generosity of spirit (sorry for that past-tense stuff, she's very much alive!) that lies at the heart of the folk music ethos and community.
I hope that like her pal, Don White, Christine is gathering her notes and stories for an update at some point. In the interim, I very much appreciate her autographing the copies she sent for me and my friend who is getting her book and cd for her upcoming birthday. You're a class act, Ms. Lavin, and I enjoyed your book and hope you continue to write and perform music on that beautiful Laskin guitar of yours for many years to come. Thanks for your thoughtful perspective on topics large and small.
I hope that like her pal, Don White, Christine is gathering her notes and stories for an update at some point. In the interim, I very much appreciate her autographing the copies she sent for me and my friend who is getting her book and cd for her upcoming birthday. You're a class act, Ms. Lavin, and I enjoyed your book and hope you continue to write and perform music on that beautiful Laskin guitar of yours for many years to come. Thanks for your thoughtful perspective on topics large and small.
February 15, 2026
I read this after seeing it touted in "All Roads Lead to the Birchmere" by Stephen Moore and the late Gary Oelze. I thought I had a pretty good knowledge of folk music and singer/songwriters but Christine travels in some unique circles, mostly based in NYC. Highlights are the chapters about the Four Bitchin' Babes, Dame Edna and Ervin Drake.
Appendix 2 is Christine's list of 1000 "Terrific recordings I have have played on the radio". I was skimming through this list and recognizing only a handful of the artists, but then I spotted the name of a woman who went to the same high school my wife, my sister and I all attended. After the obligatory YouTube search I quickly bought all her CDs on Amazon. Wonderful music, so thank you Christine Lavin.
Appendix 2 is Christine's list of 1000 "Terrific recordings I have have played on the radio". I was skimming through this list and recognizing only a handful of the artists, but then I spotted the name of a woman who went to the same high school my wife, my sister and I all attended. After the obligatory YouTube search I quickly bought all her CDs on Amazon. Wonderful music, so thank you Christine Lavin.
July 28, 2021
Nice spending a few hours with Christine Lavin (audio version). Nice to get a few more details of her journey.
January 1, 2026
Lots of fun!
January 15, 2022
Generally good but badly in need of a more involved editor
August 31, 2011
I've had Cold Pizza for Breakfast on my wish list for a year, but didn't buy it because I wanted it so much. Huh?
Let me explain. I've been a devoted fan of Christine Lavin, the funniest, most moving, most adorable folk singer ( a title that absolutely doesn't do her justice) for close to 25 years. I listened to her in college, when she made me laugh. I listened to her in grad school, when she kept me from crying. I pressed cassettes (that I've never gotten back) into the hands of friends and coworkers who I knew just HAD to hear Christine. I email-chatted with her sister-in-law back in the days before most people had email. I saw her at the Birchmere with the man I'd already known for a decade was "The Kind of Love You Never Recover From" and saw her ... under a bridge ... at a music festival weeks after I'd moved to a new city, before I knew anyone to invite.
Christine Lavin's music has been central to my life. I couldn't bear to read this book and be disappointed, so I kept putting off buying it until this month, when I desperately needed some cheer. Normally, I zoom through books, but I took pains to read it slowly, only at lunchtime, to savor each chapter. I was not disappointed. With every hysterically funny, endearing story, from Christine's childhood to just a few years ago, Christine relays her life, her foibles, a tiny bit of her romances and a huge part of her career. I knew she was a big deal as a solo singer as well as a someone with a talent for fostering great professional relationships and bringing together amazing performers (from the Four Bitchin' Babes to the singer-songwriters on all the great compilations, like When October Goes and Big Times In A Small Town.
Even if you don't know what a solipsist is, even if you think you wouldn't like folk music, even if you couldn't care less about the memoirs of someone of which you've never heard...if you have a sense of humor, if you wish you didn't take yourself so seriously, and if you like music (any kind of music), you'll like Christine Lavin, her music (especially the early stuff) and this book about her life.
(BTW, she'll be an hour from me on 11/11/11. I'm definitely going to that show!)
Let me explain. I've been a devoted fan of Christine Lavin, the funniest, most moving, most adorable folk singer ( a title that absolutely doesn't do her justice) for close to 25 years. I listened to her in college, when she made me laugh. I listened to her in grad school, when she kept me from crying. I pressed cassettes (that I've never gotten back) into the hands of friends and coworkers who I knew just HAD to hear Christine. I email-chatted with her sister-in-law back in the days before most people had email. I saw her at the Birchmere with the man I'd already known for a decade was "The Kind of Love You Never Recover From" and saw her ... under a bridge ... at a music festival weeks after I'd moved to a new city, before I knew anyone to invite.
Christine Lavin's music has been central to my life. I couldn't bear to read this book and be disappointed, so I kept putting off buying it until this month, when I desperately needed some cheer. Normally, I zoom through books, but I took pains to read it slowly, only at lunchtime, to savor each chapter. I was not disappointed. With every hysterically funny, endearing story, from Christine's childhood to just a few years ago, Christine relays her life, her foibles, a tiny bit of her romances and a huge part of her career. I knew she was a big deal as a solo singer as well as a someone with a talent for fostering great professional relationships and bringing together amazing performers (from the Four Bitchin' Babes to the singer-songwriters on all the great compilations, like When October Goes and Big Times In A Small Town.
Even if you don't know what a solipsist is, even if you think you wouldn't like folk music, even if you couldn't care less about the memoirs of someone of which you've never heard...if you have a sense of humor, if you wish you didn't take yourself so seriously, and if you like music (any kind of music), you'll like Christine Lavin, her music (especially the early stuff) and this book about her life.
(BTW, she'll be an hour from me on 11/11/11. I'm definitely going to that show!)
April 9, 2012
I sped through this book, an easy read for someone who once performed "shopping cart of love" with two other bitchin' babes. Lavin's book is full of the same truths and funny turnarounds that endear her songs to me. Unfortunately, by two thirds of the way through the book, her rhythms were all too familiar - a small complaint when I consider the gift of her attitude & life experiences shared here. This is no literary masterpiece - but if you love Christine Lavin like I do (did I mention she once painted my fingernails at her show's intermission? How can you not love that?) you will appreciate this book - and all the folk music trivia and recommendations she shares.
August 28, 2012
This brought me back to college when my friends were crazy for Lavin and other funny folk singers. Now, on thinking of it, I don't know where I was taste wise. I like her stuff, but give me vintage Kinks any day. Anyway. The memoir is pretty good, she goes off on tangents and never gets back. She almost was linear but most of the stories are enjoyable and some of her wisdom about being a professional musician was excellent.
June 26, 2010
Brilliant, hilarious and inspiring. What a life this woman has had! I've been listening to her music for years and I never realized just how important she is in the folk music world, nor what goes into creating that kind of a career. I guess it's to be expected that at 22, I don't have nearly the experience that she has, but it's certainly something aspire to. Brava!
September 13, 2010
Christine is a wonderful storyteller. She is a first-person folk action hero. She is not afraid to tell a good story, even (especially?) when the protagonist (herself) steps in something avoidable, regrettable, embarrassing...
January 24, 2012
Christine tells lots of stories-- about how some of her songs were inspired, the beginnings of Fast Folk and Jack Hardy's songwriters' circle, the Four Bitchin' Babes, and life on the road. all with her trademark humor. Well worth perusing for the folkies out there.
October 6, 2012
if you like her music, you'll like the book. lots of laughs and lots of great folksie stories, just like her shows
August 4, 2014
Great if you are a Christine lavin fan!
I love her music and always wondered if she would be as fun in real life. I think so! quirky and fun. a nice bio of a great folk singer.
I love her music and always wondered if she would be as fun in real life. I think so! quirky and fun. a nice bio of a great folk singer.
October 21, 2015
As you would expect from listening to her lyrics, she's an excellent storyteller. This is one of the best artistic autobiographies I've ever read!
November 16, 2015
I loved this book! I've listen to Christine Lavin from the beginning and she's just as funny in print as she is in concert.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews