The Biographical Dictionary of Popular Music is jam packed with information on tons and tons of artists, songs, etc. Â It is just over 900 pages and I guess now I can brag that I’ve read the dictionary đ Â While there is a variety of topics mentioned, these are all ones that have inspired the author. It makes me think that maybe I should start my own dictionary – a lot of the bands that I love (ok, I think all) were not mentioned in this book. Â Even with those omissions, the book is incredibly thorough with decent chunks of text about everything that is included in the book. It covers many genres and decades even if it just skims the surface of the number of performers there really are out there!
The book is great to be used either as a reference – to look up specific things when you are interested in finding out more of them – like a true dictionary – or you can just read through it all. Â I opted to read through it all, a letter a day for a few weeks. Â There was no storyline that I needed to follow so I could easily pick the book up whenever I wanted, even if I was in the middle of reading something else at the time.
I received a free e-copy of this book from the publisher in order to write this review.
About the Book
The Biographical Dictionary of Popular Music is an incredible and opinionated collection of celebrated cultural critic Dylan Jonesâs thoughts on more than 350 of the most important artists around the worldâalive and dead, big and small, at length and in brief. This A to Z reference is the true musical heir to David Thomsonâs seminal The New Biographical Dictionary of Popular Film. Jones writes entertainingly about bands that have inspired, bedeviled, and fascinated him over the years.