Emotional Rescue: Essays on Love, Loss, and Life—With a Soundtrack

by Ben Greenman

What songs have made up your life’s soundtrack? Which have captured your every mood and deepest sentiments? Pop music, like no other form of entertainment or art, is capable of articulating our feelings, desires, joy, and pain. In a few soul-grabbing minutes, artists from every genre—from Little Richard to Lou Reed, Willie Nelson to Wu-Tang Clan, Sly and the Family Stone to the Rolling Stones—can help us understand our place in our own lives.

This collection of short, sharp essays by New York Times bestselling author Ben Greenman (Mo’ Meta Blues), organized around a thematic playlist of songs, serves as a reminder of the lyrical power of songwriting and the sonic ability of pop to capture the human experience. Greenman’s wit, insight, and honesty are as sweet and satisfying as the hits (and the deep cuts) at the center of each essay.

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Music, Ebooks, Biography, Memoir

250 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2016

About the author

Ben Greenman is an editor at The New Yorker whose short fiction, journalism, and essays have appeared there, The New York Times, McSweeneys, The Paris Review, and Zoetrope: All Story. He is the author of several acclaimed books of fiction, including Superbad, Superworse, A Circle is a Balloon and Compass Both, Correspondences, and the novel Please Step Back. HIs new book of stories What He's Poised To Do: Stories was published in June of 2010.

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is essentially a book of not very profound, or even very interesting thoughts inspired by popular songs.

I don't know . . . maybe the book is not as bad as I think. I suppose it's possible that it just suffers in comparison with Old Records Never Die: One Man's Quest for His Vinyl and His Past, a much better title I read recently about the power of music over our lives. Nah - most other reviewers seem to agree with me; it is as bad as I think.

Anyway, I really had to force myself to finish this one. The only bright spot? I did head to the internet to look up some of the songs. Sorry to say I'd recommend listening to music over reading this book any day.

[Eliana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love essays. I love music. I am a nerd about both of these things. Yet I found this book virtually unreadable. Boring beyond belief. Distant rather than connecting emotionally. Such disappointment!

[SundayAtDusk · Rating 2 out of 5]

As far as I’m concerned, Ben Greenman might as well be talking to himself. Actually, as far as I’m concerned, Ben Greenman is talking to himself. Just as the author described a woman friend in Chapter 21, the essays in this book can be absolutely described as “prodigiously trivial”. And, my, all the little known songs mentioned! Reading it all was a bit like a slow death. Yes, paraphrasing one of the songs mentioned that I did know:

“I've just got to get a message to you, hold on, hold on
One more chapter and my life will be through . . . .*

(*I've Gotta Get A Message To You by the Bee Gees)

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF’ing this one.
Some of the essays are insightful.
But most are too personal to connect to.
And the songs selected for each section are obscure. If they were chosen to evoke images & emotions, they were chosen poorly.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book, the author writes about various incidents in his life and the musical accompaniment.

Music means a lot to me and there are many songs that remind me of places, times, people, and emotional turmoil or triumph. I get it.

There were some bad reviews of this book, stating that the author was too self-absorbed and wrote too much about himself. Well, what else would he write about in a book that chronicles his own experiences and the songs he listened do during them? That's a silly criticism. While I can't relate personally to what he went through or felt at the time, I can certainly relate to how music informs my own life. Would I be more interested in reading about my own experiences? Sure. But that's MY book to write, not another author's!

Having said that, he didn't strike me as a particularly likable guy. But I understand his feelings about music.

A few fun things from this book. He mentions South Bend and nicknames it "The Bend." Some of us call it that, too! I liked this bit:

"When you're seeking out new stimuli, how do you know when the jolt you've found is genuinely contributing to your sense of self and to the progress of your life (and when you're genuinely contributing to the lives of others), or if it's merely a new blip whose intensity will soon fade, leaving you yet again in search of something new?"

I like this, too:

"...outward silence is not always indicative of an inner void--or, for that matter, an inner turmoil. There is a third alternative: silence on the outside and balance on the inside." As someone who doesn't always talk a lot, I like that.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was my July Amazon Kindle First selection. Unfortunately, it just didn't end up being interesting to me. It felt a lot like the author just googled every song with his theme words in the title and then stretched to make them fit into his chapters. His stories were all very similar and honestly did not make him seem like a likable or relatable person.

[Jen Mays · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each of the author's short essays centers around a specific theme for that essay, typically around an emotion or some other life moment that has a counterpoint (such as fear vs bravery, or childhood vs adulthood) in which he explores a series of songs that somehow capture that comparison into the lyrics. Then he ties in an anecdote from his own life, typically as a start to the essay, as a means of introducing the theme and how he arrived to thinking about it and where he found echoes of it in the music he listened to.

This is a marinating book, I think. One that will need to simmer and be revisited from time to time. Unfortunately for me, many of the songs mentioned are unfamiliar to me so, while I enjoy the idea of having so much new music to go explore now, I feel as though many of the references were lost in this capacity. My rating is mid-range primarily for that reason--the writing wasn't bad in my opinion, and the thoughts were interesting, but without the ability to really tap into the soundtrack the author is playing, much of it felt disconnected. It would be interesting to look into setting up a playlist of all the songs noted and put it on rotation for the rest of the year, and then perhaps revisit this book then.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointed. Love Music, essays and other works on musicians and was looking forward to this book. Hard to get into, poor use of language, seemed lacking all around.

[Candice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Liked the concept and the introduction to music I wasn't familiar with. He's smart and funny, although I found the book weak

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick read, but I enjoyed it. Mostly because he applies the songs he discusses to events and conversations he has in his life the same way I do. I saw that a lot of the negative reviews were about the songs being obscure or ones readers had never heard of, but the essays are about life, not about the songs. So I don't think the fact I hadn't heard most of these songs had a negative effect on my reading experience. If you listen to music because the lyrics speak to you and help you understand that others are experiencing the same life events that you are, I think you'll enjoy this book.

[Tim Baker · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so terrible I couldn't force myself to make it more than 1/3 of the way through. It's basically a collection of short essays that clump together random songs that the author uses for inspiration to write about his boring, mundane life experiences and how they remind him of said songs.

The biggest problem I have with this book is that the author comes off very pretentious and talks about the countless women he claims to have dated. Well, that and his stories are just boring. I often found myself wondering how this book got published in the first place.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is fine, but every essay is so short; you can read them each in less than five minutes, which means the book’s “playlist” would last far longer than the reading itself. Each essay is okay, but largely feel like they’re just skimming the surface, only getting started. And Greenman apparently has more ex-girlfriends than I have Facebook friends; almost every essay seems to reference someone he used to date. Sheesh. There is some redeeming thoughtfulness and respect for music, but it’s not a deep as I’d been hoping.

[Ara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is pretty much a load of self-indulgent wank, which could have been called "I once dated a woman who" because it appeared that pretty much every story started that way.

I was very happy that the last 23% was index, so I could stop reading this dull clap-trap.

It did introduce me to, and remind me of a few good songs though, so there's that.

[Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read about 25% and then quit. I hardly ever quit a book. This was not at all an insightful read, just lists of songs, some lyrics and lots of stories about Greenman being friends with girls. This could have gone so much deeper. Such a good premise and it was wasted. Glad it was free.

[Sabrina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't finish it. It's awful. It's boring. It's pointless.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received a free ecopy via Goodreads Giveaways in exchange for an honest review.

As the title indicates, this book is centered around music and how it relates to aspects of our lives. I like the setup for the chapters. Each one starts with a heading page introducing the topic(s), the next page lists music selections the writer associates with the topic, and then there is an essay about it. Sometimes the topics seemed loosely connected to the music selected, although I was not familiar with many of the songs. That didn't stop me from enjoying the writing because the pertinent details of the music are discussed.

I ended up reading this book on my phone, which is the first time I've used it in that capacity. This book lent itself really well to doing so. Each chapter is relatively short, taking about 5 or 6 minutes to read. So it was pretty easy to open it up and read a small chunk when I had an opportunity without dropping out in the middle of a chapter. I could digest it in smaller chunks rather than trying to sit down and read the whole thing in one go. This gave me some time to reflect back on what Greenman was trying to say at times, which may have made it more enjoyable for me.

His writing reminds me a bit of Chuck Klosterman without being quite so cynical. There are times where his stories put me off, but the honesty behind them kept me reading. He talks quite a bit about how he relates to music. It really is about relationships though. Whether it is something that he experienced directly, or just something he noticed through song or from watching others, there is insight here that should resonate with readers. It is a very personal journey and I'm glad to have had a chance to tag along.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frustrating but utterly fascinating

I'm a person who constantly makes playlists in this age of streaming music.before this amazing time of access to almost any music at or fingertips, I made mix tapes like they were going out of style with little foresight that they actually were. Because of this, I love this book. It does ask the things I try to do with my own music obsessions.
What's interesting, however, is that i don't think i like it's author very much.He's to suck on this notion of opposites. Each chapter is titled street something and it's opposite. It isn't that the author can't see the nuances between the two. He just seems to always disregard the conclusions that fall in those inbetween areas. I don't know if he's just can't see a world with a wide view than his own, or if this is just a construct of his own devising for the purposes of this book.
Regardless, I love the way he wants to talk about music and how it relates to life,and i had a wonderful time going on that journey with him. I made sure to create a playlist of his the songs he highlights for my spirit account.

[Ernesto · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has an attractive idea as a background. Pick several songs with a common topic and ponder about their lyrics or the momento in your life you listened to them. I am not a melomaniac as the author, but nonetheless the book made me wonder which songs have affected my life, well beyond the pop charts our adolescense is filled with.
I enjoyed the book up to the middle of it. I even went ahead and created a Spotify playlist of all the songs that were mentioned and were available on the music site. It was interesting to read the chapter listening to the songs being referenced.
But, the second half prove to be repetitive and somehow boring. At the end it seemed that most of the essays began with a variation of "a former ex-girlfriend of mine". There she was telling the author that he was selfish, now telling him to understand his feelings.

At the end this artifact made the book harder to finish.

[Stacey Vickers · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reading this book was drudgery. I had to muscle my way through the entire thing and it's not even that long. The idea was an interesting one, which is why I decided to read it. The author created a collection of essays based on things he learned or lessons that applied to his life based on songs he had heard. My problem with these essays was that they were very rarely resolved to my mind nor were his conclusion very profound. I'm sorry to say that, but most of these essays left me very unsatisfied. If it were fiction I would have labeled the narrator an unreliable one. Also most of these songs are rare and very esoteric selections. I enjoy a wide variety of music styles and I had not heard of quite a few of them. I guess we should all haunt old record stores in search of music very few people have actually heard. It did make me a little sad that very few record stores actually exist anymore, which I guess is a sign of our changing times. Anyway I though the tone of this collection would resemble Empire Records,the movie, which was funky and irreverent or Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, the movie I have seen and the book I have read and enjoyed both immensely, but alas this collection was a disappointment on all levels. The only bright part is the fact that I didn't actually pay money for it. I got this book for free with my Amazon Prime Membership. The time I spent reading this book is time I wish I could get back, but never will.

[Bill Keithler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kind of liked this book. As I recall, I got this for free or at a low price through Amazon a while back. I don't agree with a lot of the haters of this book. To me, it reads a bit like a diary of different life events the author experienced which created some emotional reaction by him. Music has been his way to work through these episodes. He seemed to have far more female friends than male friends (or maybe the females just generated more drama for him). While I think I have a pretty good appreciation of lots of popular music, Greenman cited many songs which I had never heard of and certainly never had heard previously. I am always open to gaining exposure to new music, although much of what was new to me was not especially appealing to me as it turned out.

[John Moriello · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry to say this book was a bit of a clunker, too oriented toward the author's own life.

The book needed meaningful insight into the singer/songwriters for tunes that may have been the soundtrack of his readers; lives, giving those readers a connection - however vague - to the artists and then perhaps to some degree to the author. In the process, it could/should have inspired the readers to conjure up their own memories with respect to particular songs.

It didn't. Instead, it just inspired me to keep turning pages in the hope that the next chapter would be a less dreadful read than the previous.

As written, the book does not work.

[Joseph · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is an Intriguing concept for a book, but it falls short of being anything but an inventory of the author’s favorite songs and most memorable experiences and relationships. Where it falls short is in curating those songs and memories into anything heart-tugging or emotionally resonating.

One cannot help but think of Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity as a similar themed concept, but where Rob Gordon (Hornby’s main character) is endearingly aloof in relationships and brilliantly cogent in his musical analysis, this book lacks both. The writing barely skims the surface of any lyrics other than to transcribe them and the memoirs read like a two-to-three sentence day planner synopsis.

[Dawn Muskovitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has honestly been sitting on my kindle for well over a year so I finally sat and gave it a read. It is a quick read, with a list of songs for each chapter that encompass what the author is discussing. Growing up with a father that owned a record store in Milwaukee, I was familiar with many of the song titles or artists he referenced.

There is a self awareness of these essays, of a grown man looking back on relationships and such from his 20s and early 30s that I found a sort of kinship reading.

That being said, I would probably never re-read or reference the material in it in the future. Personal preference, nothing more. The format and writing were very good.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definite essays with Soundtrack

Not sure what I thought I would be receiving when I signed up for this particular goodreads giveaway; pretty sure it wasn't this though. The author does take a grouping of songs which he lists and gives all information about (thank you) and then proceeds to explain how they are connected in this chapter (i.e. Publicity/Privacy). I enjoyed the book even though I only knew a handful of the artists and even fewer songs. It did take me out of my comfort zone for reading and I am thankful for that.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pretty terrible. I understand that it's supposed to be from the authors personal experiences, but it wasn't even written in an interesting way. Here is a direct quote "Eventually my friend called back. We had a nice conversation. I accused her of being a jerk for not coming through but admitted that I was a jerk for expecting too much. That was years ago." Some of the worst writing I have possibly ever come across, a middle schooler could write better. Pretty disappointed. No substance whatsoever.

[Jil · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book well enough. However I have stopped reading it because I think it would be best as an audio book. That being said, I am waiting until I find it at my library or can request it to finish the book. I think audio would be very entertaining. Especially if they use different voices for the different essays and I hope they have music on it too. Looking forward to the audio and will update/redo my rating and review after I have listened to it.

Thanks to Goodreads via Giveaway and the Author for the copy.

[David Macpherson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure why I finished the book because I really didn't like it. IT is a collection of essays about Greenman thinking about old girlfriends and cool friends and other stuff (I guess) all with songs that he mentions that mean something in regaurd to these stories he sort of tells. Now the songs are very obscure and I think they are included to prove that Greenman knows more songs than I do. Well, I guess you win.

[JB · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wonthis book in a Goodreads giveaway. Each chapter is an essay about the author's life in dealing with something that has happened in his life and tying into a song or songs that helped in dealing with the issue. It was interesting having the song associations and I found some new music along the way. Enjoy!

[Adam · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this one, but wish I’d given up on it. In each essay, the author hints at something personal, avoids going deeper, then strings together obscure songs to reach a conclusion about something he never lets the reader in on in the first place. It’s formulaic and doesn’t lend itself to anything interesting or memorable.

[Jonathan Crary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it thoroughly. I learned to appreciate music from those artists of whom I’m familiar but not specifically. The narration was engaging and the need for YouTube or Spotify is critical. The reading is best half way and then it seems to want you to be more engaged with the music towards the end.