Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink

September 21, 2015
In this massive, circuitous biography, rock music icon Costello attempts to put his life into context, with varying degrees of success. Declan Patrick McManus, aka Elvis Costello, had music in his blood. His grandfather was a trumpet player with the White Star Line, and his father had a long, quirky career as a singer in a dance band and a radio show host, keeping him away from home a great deal. Young Costello was constantly surrounded by music and musicians. Though he spent most of his childhood living with his mother, it was his father who had the greatest influence on him as a performer. He was privy to the latest releases and shared them with his eager son, bonding over a mutual love of music. The narrative rambles, though there are plenty of tales to keep the pages turning. Readers will be fascinated by Costello’s stories of witnessing the Clash recording “London Calling,” absentmindedly leaving his guitar at the White House, and performing at Live Aid, yet he offers them only as asides. Hits such “Accidents Will Happen” and “(What’s So Funny ’Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding” are mentioned only in passing. However, many of his albums are covered in greater detail, as are observations on David Bowie’s skill at party games and Burt Bacharach’s charm. Costello’s an endearing, humble narrator, frequently awed by the opportunity to work with legends such as Paul McCartney, Johnny Cash, and Chet Baker. For better or worse, his book feels like a discussion between friends over a pint.

October 1, 2015
Everything you ever wanted to know]and more]about hyperliterate songwriter and performer Costello. It becomes immediately clear in this voluminous debut memoir that Costello's prose cuts with the same spiky wit and observational power as his well-known lyrics]e.g., upon meeting Bruce Springsteen: "he laughed like steam escaping from a radiator." What this memoir could've used was a more proactive editor to rein in its disjointed structure and rambling eccentricities. In one chapter, we learn about Costello's 20-something rise to stardom in 1977; the next chapter covers his birth. Readers will need to forget trying to follow this memoir in a chronological way, which may be appropriate when considering his unconventional songwriting. Whatever the Byzantine structure, certainly there's no part of his life left untouched]from his childhood growing up in Liverpool and London watching his father perform as a singer with the Joe Loss Orchestra to getting his first band together and on to becoming the jittery 1970s New Wave answer to Bob Dylan. Although Costello (born Declan MacManus) led a routine, working-class existence in his teens and early 20s, not surprisingly, the most scintillating time in his life to read about is his unlikely rise to fame in the '70s with his band the Attractions and Stiff Records. Costello isn't coy when discussing the origins of his songs and detailing the often surprising musical influences behind them. His writing on his later elder statesman years]including his marriage to Diana Krall and his dabbling with string quartets and orchestras]is pleasantly informative, but his discussions of his middle ages are mostly akin to reading someone's CV. They lack the same thrill of youth that drives the recollection of his hand-to-mouth days as a struggling punk. Overlong but still packed with great lines, vivid anecdotes, and plenty of photos. Certainly a treat for his many fans.

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Starred review from October 1, 2015
This is a big book, literally, by one of the best rockers in the business. Given the singular, and eclectic, nature of his career, it is no surprise that Elvis Costello's anecdotal autobiography is an idiosyncratic journey through his music and the people and places that have inspired him. Born Declan Patrick MacManus, he fondly recalls his father's show-business career in England, the first time he heard the Beatles' Please Please Me ( thrilling and confusing ), his early gigs, his wide-eyed first time in America, his controversial debut on Saturday Night Live, his collaboration with Paul McCartney, and his marriage to jazz singerpianist Diana Krall. Costello offers many small delights and revelations. For example, we learn that Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops is one of his heroes and that the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville is his favorite stage in the world. We learn, too, about the inspiration for many of his songs, from Alison to Pump It Up to Watching the Detectives. Despite the name-dropping (Dylan, Springsteen, Bowie, Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis), Costello comes across as the perennial outsider, as someone who is surprised that he has been invited to the party. A must for Costello fans everywhere.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

Starred review from November 1, 2015

It's no surprise that Elvis Costello, one of the most literate of rock songwriters, has written a fascinating, rich, and evocative memoir told with warmth, intelligence, and wit and filled with memorable descriptions and observations. Costello displays both a novelist's eye for detail and scene setting and at other times, the skill of a songwriter and poet in describing an entire mood or a person in just a line or two. Moving nonchronologically through his life, Costello paints cinematic portraits of his childhood and youth in England--a period of his life he mines and weaves throughout the book--and he writes movingly about his musician father and the man's long-lasting influence on Costello's musical upbringing and life. The account details the creation of pivotal albums, the motives and meanings behind some of his songs, the touring life, and his interactions and collaborations with musicians from Paul McCartney and Burt Bacharach to Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan. VERDICT With an encyclopedic knowledge and appreciation for, and deep love of, music, and with an expressive power and heart, Costello's memoir will take its place in the highest echelons of the genre.--James Collins, Morristown-Morris Twp. P.L., NJ

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2015

Grammy Award-winning Costello's memoir is billed as unconventional, so expect anything. The author will promote on concert tour.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2015

It's no surprise that Elvis Costello, one of the most literate of rock songwriters, has written a fascinating, rich, and evocative memoir told with warmth, intelligence, and wit and filled with memorable descriptions and observations. Costello displays both a novelist's eye for detail and scene setting and at other times, the skill of a songwriter and poet in describing an entire mood or a person in just a line or two. Moving nonchronologically through his life, Costello paints cinematic portraits of his childhood and youth in England--a period of his life he mines and weaves throughout the book--and he writes movingly about his musician father and the man's long-lasting influence on Costello's musical upbringing and life. The account details the creation of pivotal albums, the motives and meanings behind some of his songs, the touring life, and his interactions and collaborations with musicians from Paul McCartney and Burt Bacharach to Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan. VERDICT With an encyclopedic knowledge and appreciation for, and deep love of, music, and with an expressive power and heart, Costello's memoir will take its place in the highest echelons of the genre.--James Collins, Morristown-Morris Twp. P.L., NJ

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.