Lit Riffs: Writers "Cover" Songs They Love

by Julianna Baggott, Jonathan Lethem, Tom Perrotta

Following in the footsteps of the late great Lester Bangs -- the most revered and irreverent of rock 'n' roll critics -- twenty-four celebrated writers have penned stories inspired by great songs. Just as Bangs cast new light on a Rod Stewart classic with his story Maggie May, about a wholly unexpected connection between an impressionable young man and an aging, alcoholic hooker, the diverse, electrifying stories here use songs as a springboard for a form dubbed the lit riff.Alongside Bangs's classic work, you'll find stories by J.T. LeRoy, who puts a recovering teenage drug abuser in a dentist's chair with nothing but the Foo Fighters's Everlong -- blaring through the P.A. -- to fight the pain; Jonathan Lethem, whose narrator looks back on his lost innocence just as an extramarital affair careens to an end -- this to the tune Speeding Motorcycle as recorded by Yo La Tengo; and Jennifer Belle, who envisions a prequel to Paul Simon's Graceland -- one that takes place at a children's birthday party replete with a real live kangaroo.With original contributions from Tom Perrotta, Nelson George, Amanda Davis, Lisa Tucker, Aimee Bender, Darin Strauss, and many more -- riffing on everyone from Tom Waits and Bruce Springsteen to the White Stripes, Cat Power, and Bob Marley -- this is both an astounding collection of short stories and an extraordinary experiment in words and music.Soundtrack available from Saturation Acres Music & Recording Co.

Genres: Music, Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Contemporary, Writing

Library Binding

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Critically acclaimed, bestselling author Julianna Baggott has published more than twenty books under her own name as well as pen names Bridget Asher and N.E. Bode. Her recent novel, Harriet Wolf’s Seventh Book of Wonders, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year (2015). Her novel Pure, the first of a trilogy, was also a New York Times Notable Book of the Year (2012) and won an ALA Alex Award. Her work has been optioned by Fox2000, Nickelodeon/Paramount, and Anonymous Content and she currently has work in development at Netflix with Shawn Levy attached to direct, Paramount with Jessica Biel attached, Disney+, Lionsgate, and Warner Brothers, to name a few. For more on her film and TV work, click here. There are over one hundred foreign editions of Julianna’s novels published or forthcoming overseas. Baggott’s work has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Modern Love column, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The International Herald Tribune, Glamour, Real Simple, Best Creative Nonfiction, Best American Poetry, and has been read on NPR’s Here and Now, Talk of the Nation, and All Things Considered. Her essays, stories, and poems are highly anthologized.

Baggott began publishing short stories when she was twenty-two and sold her first novel while still in her twenties. After receiving her M.F.A. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, she published her first novel, the national bestseller Girl Talk. It was quickly followed by The Boston Globe bestseller, The Miss America Family, and then The Boston Herald Book Club selection, The Madam, an historical novel based on the life of her grandmother. She co-wrote Which Brings Me to You with Steve Almond, A Best Book of 2006 (Kirkus Reviews); it has been optioned by Anonymous Content, and currently by BCDF, with a screenplay penned by playwright Keith Bunin.

Her Bridget Asher novels, published by Bantam Dell at Random House, include All of Us and Everything, listed in “Best New Books” in People magazine (2015), The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted, The Pretend Wife, and My Husband’s Sweethearts.

Although the bulk of her work is for adults, she has published award-winning novels for younger readers under the pen name N.E. Bode as well as her own name. Her seven novels for younger readers include, most notably, The Anybodies trilogy, which was a People Magazine summer reading pick alongside David Sedaris and Bill Clinton, a Washington Post Book of the Week, a Girl’s Life Top Ten, a Booksense selection, and was in development at Nickelodeon/Paramount. Other titles include The Slippery Map, The Ever Breath, and the prequel to Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, a movie starring Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, and Jason Bateman. For two years, Bode was a recurring personality on XM Sirius Radio. Julianna’s Boston Red Sox novel The Prince of Fenway Park (HarperCollins) was on the Sunshine State Young Readers Awards List and The Massachusetts Children’s Book Award for 2011-2012.

Baggott also has an acclaimed career as a poet, having published four collections of poetry – Instructions: Abject & Fuming, This Country of Mothers, Compulsions of Silkworms and Bees, and Lizzie Borden in Love. Her poems have appeared in some of the most venerable literary publications in the country, including Poetry, The American Poetry Review, and Best American Poetry (2001, 2011, and 2012).

She is an associate professor at Florida State University’s College of Motion Picture Arts where she teaches screenwriting. From 2013-2017, she held the William H.P. Jenks Chair in Contemporary American Letters at the College of the Holy Cross. In 2006, Baggott and her husband, David Scott, co-founded the nonprofit organization Kids in Need – Books in Deed which focuses on literacy and getting free books into the hands of underprivileged children in the state of Florida. David Scott is also her creative and business partner. They have four children. Her oldest daughte

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was ordered from Amazon's sale table. Upon opening the package, I was horrified to see it was published by Mtv BOOKS. Is that an oxymoron, or what?

This is a mixed bag of short stories "inspired" by popular songs. Some are good, some are VERY good, and the rest will fade from memory faster than last year's music videos.

The best of the bunch took just the barest whiff of a song and turned it into good fiction.

Bad things happened when the authors tried to literally translate the lyrics into stories.

 - A man named Paul travels to Graceland, taking along the child of his first marriage.

 - A man named Bob shot the sheriff, but he claims it was in self defense.

Why, oh why, does no one ever care who shot the deputy?

[R.]

Was a gift from long ago but I cannot remember from whom - saw it come up during a "Jonathan Lethem" search - suddenly remembered I had it (or had had it) - thought hey wouldn't that be a frothy summer read finally -started going through doublestacked bookcases - lost hope - started to misremember that perhaps I had regifted it (that, as feared, I had had it)- but found it in exactly in the very last place I looked, the bottom drawer of a clothes dresser (no clothes, just books)

[Jj Burch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. Not the greatest collection of short stories, but some were great (Graffiti Monk, Heroin King, and the Springsteen one).

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't recall what sordid bargain bin I pulled Lit Riffs out of years ago, but I do remember my expectations were abysmal. Reading this book was an adventure—I'm the kind of hipster who enjoys listening to foreign alt rock, video game soundtracks, 60s boy bands, eurobeat, and indie music; needless to say, I'm definitely not the target audience for this book. The fact that I knew exactly one of the songs referenced in this collection seemed to mitigate my disappointment; other reviewers complain about how the authors didn't capture the essence of a song at all, yet I was blissfully ignorant and therefore open to wherever each story took me. But still. Disappointing.

I love the concept of making a book of short stories inspired by music, but the execution of it is mediocre. It's like every author tried to add a tiny crumb of ROCK 'N' ROLL into the life of a a jaded adult. Predictable themes form a motif throughout the stories: angry sex, pathetic sex, failed relationships, drugs and alcohol, suburban ennui, death, and tiny acts of rebellion. Stories that might have been ok in a different anthology blend together in a colourless sludge.

Thankfully there are a few shining stars in this collection. Victor LaValle's "A Simple Explanation of the Afterlife" is one of the best short stories I've read in a long time. Everything about it, including the absurd epigraph, is pure genius. I also really enjoyed Aimee Bender's "All the Security Guards by Name" and Lisa Tucker's "Why Go." So that makes a total of 36 pages that are worth reading.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like a lot of multi-author anthologies, a hit or miss affair. Where it suffers the most is in the conceit- stories inspired by songs - and specifically in framing it as such.

Had it just been a collection without that device, inspired by songs or not, it may have felt different.

As it is, because listening to music is such a personal thing, the knowledge of the specific songs inspiring the stories just opens up avenues for criticism when the author’s inspiration/interpretation doesn’t line up with your own.

There are some standout pieces, a solid 3.5, but not enough to round it up to 4.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't particularly a big fan of short stories until I read this book. I was intrigued by the "writers cover their favorite songs" sub title. What could possibly be greater than that?

My personal favorites were 'Bouncing',inspired by Paul Simon's "Graceland", which reminded me a little bit of my story 'Hound Dog' that I'm getting published this fall. It also takes a music buff to know that not only is the story's title a Paul Simon song, but that the writer was using Paul's family fictionaly. Paul actually has a son named Harper :) I also liked the use of "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover" when the characters let the live kangaroo go, and Paul says: "Just slip out the back Jack." Now thats a good song.

I also enjoyed 'Why Go' written by Lisa Tucker. I myself am fascinated by the Vietnam War.

'Swampthroat' was a story about true friends and discovering the people you can really trust.

I think my favorite story of all was 'Dying on the Vain' about a woman who was writing a novel based on what the reconcilation of she and her former lover. That one had the most influence on me of all the stories.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Several great stories, standouts thus far being "Bouncing" by Jennifer Belle, inspired by Paul Simon's "Graceland," in which a middle-aged woman from NYC attends a suburban birthday party and realizes the depths of her loneliness, and the potential to escape. Also Tom Perrotta's "Dirty Mouth," about a kid who refuses to curse, based upon Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" as well as Johnny Cash's cover of the song. Perrotta's tale was almost too short for my liking...he captures 70's/80's suburban life so well, it's like I'm transported back to my own childhood. I am giving this a 3.5 rating because I loved some of the stories while others left me lukewarm. Why did it leave me somewhat disappointed? The idea of writing short stories with songs as the influence is fabulous, but the individual writers take great leaps of imagination and some stories feel like they have nothing to do with the song. But that's what songs do--they transport us to places other people cannot imagine. Sometimes it's better not to know an artist's intention so we can derive personal meaning from the melody and lyrics.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some stories were great (5 stars). Others were blah (2 stars). Worth a perusal if you are up for an adventure...the stories (and songs) did not follow any particular style, so you never knew what you were getting until you dove in. Some authors tried to tell a back story for the song that inspired the piece, while others just matched a feeling that the song gave them. I almost wish that the authors did not give details about their inspiration....a couple of times it almost ruined the story. This collection was a great idea that kind of fell flat. I felt like some of the stories were filler; like the deadline was approaching and they didn't have as many stories as they had projected.

In my opinion, the stories in this collection that were the most well written, listed in no particular order, were "A Simple Explanation of the Afterlife" by Victor Lavalle, "Milestones" by Hannah Tinti, "The Bodies of Boys" by Julianna Baggott, and "Smoking Inside" by Darin Strauss.


****This collection is for a mature audience.

[Jill G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really pumped about this book - music, books, what could be a better combination? But I increasingly learned as I read more that perhaps it is just impossible to write stories that are about songs. Inspired by songs, perhaps, but "inspiration" is a very loose thing, so that this doesn't really stick out to me as a collection of stories about songs but really just a collection of very random stories. (With the exception of a few, like Toure's, which are very obviously about a specific song, and which I enjoyed very much.)

I also find it very disconcerting that Bookreads lists this as a book "by Jonathan Lethem," when there are so many stories in the book, and Lethem's isn't even one of the best ones, honestly. It should obviously be listed under the editor of the collection, Matthew Miele.

[Chloe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, I really did. Instead I was bored, frustrated and a little angry that someone thought this was the best that this premise had to offer. I've read a lot of short fiction anthologies in my day from either required reading for the fiction programs I was in during 2 of my stints in higher education or my feeling that they are a good way to discover new authors without having to commit to a whole novel. This was a great idea for a collection after all all writer's wish they were rockstars and rockstars wish they were writers (or is that artists or actors, I've heard all 3. Maybe, everyone wants to be a rock star, but once they become one they just wish they were someone else.)

Anyway, I still think it's a good idea, someone just needed to do a little more curating and a little less letting their friends' sub-par pieces make it into the final product.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

A compelling idea that's, for the most part, very poorly executed. Fiction writers "cover" tunes they love by writing short stories inspired by favorite songs. The contributors who do it best here (Jonathan Lethem, Tom Perotta, Ernesto Quinonez) are often the least literal, striving instead to capture the ethos or the feel of the song they cover. The writers that are least successful seem, often, merely to be transcribing the lyrics to the song and adding a bit of narrative tissue to fill it out. (I'm thinking of, say, Toure's godawful take on Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" or Jennifer Belle's tedious "rendition" of Paul Simon's "Graceland.) Also, the book is absurdly long. Many of these stories could have been cut, offering as they do a cover version that's about as compelling as that offered by a mediocre bar band.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit, I didn't read every single piece in this book. Like most anthologies, this was uneven, and the opening piece, "Maggie May" was so wonderful and strong, that I found myself comparing other pieces to it as I read. J.T. Leroy's sample was unremarkable and annoying. It's a nice conceit though, and best read with iTunes open. I really liked listening to a song and then reading the author's riff -- many were really inventive in the direction that they went. Bottom line, it made me want to write!

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is sort of difficult to review this book overall since it is a collection of short stories, all by different authors; some of the stories i did not like that much, and i would individually would have rated about a 3, but there were also quie a few five-star stories, which is why i rated five stars overall. my favorite stories were the ones by aimee bender, lester bangs, johnathan lethem, darin strauss, elissa schappell, ernesto quinonez & amanda davis.

[Bruce Snell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting sounding concept (short stories inspired by songs), but, for me, the end result was weak. A couple of the stories were good, but most were uninteresting. Perhaps I am just not sufficiently avant-guard but most of the stories simply seemed to try too hard to be hip. As with any short story collection, different stories will appeal to different people, so I recommend that people read with lowered demands, skipping stories that don't grab them right from the start.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lester Bangs was a phenomenal writer, and I don't even like the song Maggie May...much.
Lethem's story is great, Perrotta even better. LeRoy's pretty good too. A great idea, but very hit or miss collection where nothing really stands up to the original inspiration of Bangs's 40 page story I reference above.

[Mesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pick a favorite song, and write about it. There is something very dear to my heart about this book,and though some stories stand out more than others, I appriciate a good project, and compilations with a prompt are always fun, especially when they pay tribute to music which each author clearly feels passionate about.

[Stacey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this, especially the Lester Bangs story, based on "Maggie May" - which is one of my favorite oldies songs. But I read that one and skimmed others (mostly where I knew what the inspiration song was, which wasn't very many), and I wasn't all that impressed.

[Lauren Brasher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good collection of stories. However, I think that the idea itself is better than the thing as a whole. Most of the songs 'covered' are among my favorites, and it was nice to see the art stretched.

[Brownguy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was thinking this would be good cos I like a lot of the songs, but it was a pretty tired series of stories. I couldn't even get through Lester Bang's first one. The ones I liked the best were from songs I didn't know but none of them really stood out to me.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I teach a couple of short stories from this collection. Not bad overall. A must for the pop music in American lit completist.

[Francis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is awesome! I love music and really appreciated the concept...people writing from being inspired by songs...check it out.

[Oriana]

Whoa. This sounds awesome!

[Jaime]

I keep going back to this. Some are fantastic. Some are inspiring. Others just aren't. Cool idea, though.

[Sarah]

Eh. This sounded like fun, but the handful of stories I've slogged through really weren't any fun at all, and I'm just going to return it to the library today. Good concept, poorly executed.

[N.S.]

I've only read the first story so far, but OH MY GOD. It blew my mind. I'll never listen to the song quite the same way again, and that's okay.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are short stories by American authors based on or inspired by rock/folk/pop songs. Songs include "Remedy" by the Black Crowes and Paul Simon's "Graceland."

[Kevin Gallan · Rating 4 out of 5]

every story was worth reading ...very good anthology

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remember albums? This book is like s good one ... the gems outweigh the odd clunker and the filler is still decent.

[Ant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. This one is worth reading, but not all of the stories were "quality" reads.

[Pamela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good idea, but I don't think it worked that well, even with the songs that I knew. Some of the stories were just plain odd.