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Iconoclastic guitar player Marc Ribot offers up essays and stories in this darkly funny and subversive debut collection.
"A slim yet powerful book in which Marc Ribot blends bits of memoir with strange little fictions, many of which are based on his own life and career."
--Wall Street Journal
"Ribot . . . produced a book that is much like his musical output: difficult to categorize but fascinating and engaging."
--Inside Hook
Throughout his genre-defying career as one of the most innovative musicians of our time, iconoclastic guitar player Marc Ribot has consistently defied expectation at every turn. Here, in his first collection of writing, we see that same uncompromising sensibility at work as he playfully interrogates our assumptions about music, life, and death. Through essays, short stories, and the occasional unfilmable film "mistreatment" that showcase the sheer range of his voice, Unstrung captures an artist whose versatility on the page rivals his dexterity onstage.
In the first section of the book, "Lies and Distortion," Ribot turns his attention to his instrument--"my relation to the guitar is one of struggle; I'm constantly forcing it to be something else"--and reflects on his influences (and friends) like Robert Quine (the Voidoids) and producer Hal Willner (Saturday Night Live), while delivering an impassioned plea on behalf of artists' rights. Elsewhere, we glimpse fragments of Ribot's life as a traveling musician--he captures both the monotony of touring as well as small moments of beauty and despair on the road. In the heart of the collection, "Sorry, We're Experiencing Technical Difficulties," Ribot offers wickedly humorous short stories that synthesize the best elements of the Russian absurdist tradition with the imaginative heft of George Saunders. Taken together, these stories and essays cement Ribot's position as one of the most dynamic and creative voices of our time.
About the Author
Marc Ribot has released twenty-five albums under his own name over a forty-year career, exploring everything from the pioneering jazz of Albert Ayler to the Cuban son of Arsenio Rodríguez. Rolling Stone points out that Ribot helped Tom Waits refine a new, weird Americana on 1985's Rain Dogs, and since then he's become the go-to guitar guy for all kinds of roots-music adventurers: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Elvis Costello, John Mellencamp. Additional recording credits include Neko Case, Diana Krall, Elton John/Leon Russell's The Union, Solomon Burke, John Lurie's Lounge Lizards, Marianne Faithfull, Joe Henry, Allen Toussaint, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Caetano Veloso, Allen Ginsberg, Madeleine Peyroux, Norah Jones, the Black Keys, and many others. Ribot works regularly with GRAMMY Award-winning producer T Bone Burnett and New York composer John Zorn. He has also performed on numerous film scores such as Walk the Line, The Kids Are All Right, and The Departed.
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Like it was written by George Santos
Received an Advanced Reader Copy from a friend. I am an avid true crime reader and upon completion I question if the author is credible. The timeline does not add up for his age and the times of his alleged involvement in organized crime. Some of the things in the book he is alleged to have said and done I remember almost word for word from movies I had previously watched. He literally stole a scene from the movie the accountant with Ben Affleck and said that he did it. I did a little research after completing the book and learned that this author was also claiming in 2010 that he was a long time member of the Bloods Gang. That coupled with the above leads me to believe that it is nothing more than fantasy. Do not waste your time or money
Like it was written by George Santos
Received an Advanced Reader Copy from a friend. I am an avid true crime reader and upon completion I question if the author is credible. The timeline does not add up for his age and the times of his alleged involvement in organized crime. Some of the things in the book he is alleged to have said and done I remember almost word for word from movies I had previously watched. He literally stole a scene from the movie the accountant with Ben Affleck and said that he did it. I did a little research after completing the book and learned that this author was also claiming in 2010 that he was a long time member of the Bloods Gang. That coupled with the above leads me to believe that it is nothing more than fantasy. Do not waste your time or money
What a difficult story to tell. I appreciate the honesty and vulnerability. Definitely made me think.
I had hopes for this book but was not expecting what I would read within the pages. If your kink is deplorable grammar, incoherent sentences, and inconsistent messages, then this book is for you. At first, I thought the book I received was not the book I ordered. But as I dived in, it was very confusing. I would not recommend this book to anyone
There are not many reviews on the internet for this book. In researching the many stores selling the book, it was self-published which makes a lot of sense. The online description is written perfectly, so reading the actual book was very difficult. Pages two and three are written clearly as well as the table of contents. Pages 155 and 156 are also written logically.
It appears this book was written, then sent through a program like “Grammarly.” Once completed it seems it was published without being re-read or edited. The first clue was the title narrative that used “Has” instead of “As.” The table of contents is one page off from what it shows on pages four though seven. Many of the “q’s” are written as “[]”
Below are some examples of what was within the pages of this book written verbatim:
“Chains & Discipline/ Domination & entry/ Sadism & Masochism (BDSM) is a wide classification of bed room play.” Page 9
“When bringing up the topic of chains, you are actually asking a person to offer you their depend on, their flexibility, and also possibly their suggestion of security in exchange for sensual/sexual enjoyment, power-play, and also feasible re-evaluation of your very own connection.” Page 39
“Techni[]ue can take a selection of kinds and also be as easy or facility as you pick to (new paragraph) bargain for your details scenario” Page 52
“BDSM stands for chains as well as entry, technique and also supremacy as well as sadism and also masochism.” Page 125
“SHELF means Risk Aware Consensual Kink.” Page 130
“Approval is whatever.” Page 152
“your twist isn’t my twist, yet your twist is OKAY.” Page 153
“You can be a top, base, or button” Page 153
Good service, good book. Just what I was looking for! Thank you!