Writing A Book Review of "Learning How To Die"

[idigworms]

Hello, all! I am writing a book review for English class about Greg Kot's book, "Wilco: Learning How To Die." I also will be doing a research paper based on an idea from the book, so I am kind of revved up in terms of getting to write a lot about music and especially about a band I admire so much. However, I am in dire need of assistance. I would like to get some views from others on the book: the pros and cons, whether it borders on being a fan biography or actually rather balanced. I myself am horribly biased about the band, particularly Tweedy, simply based on their output more than anything a book could ever convince me of. Other miscellaneous aspects of this project includes writing a biographical sketch of Kot (I can find nothing interesting about him besides that he is primarily a journalist for the Chicago Tribune) and presenting and analyzing other examples from the book. Also (even further!) I must present an oral report about it. Eek. My instructor said that handouts or a graphic via projector should be used in evaluating the book, but I am stumped. If only she had said I could use a boombox...

 

Anyway, I rambled all of that to say that any help in this matter is much appreciated.

[a_quiet_domino]

Google "hagiography."

 

Good luck.

[Guest Jules]

Thread from 2006

 

Thread from 2007

 

Here are a couple previous threads on the topic. This should give you an idea of what people around here think about the book.

[aricandover]

Thread from 2006

 

Thread from 2007

 

Here are a couple previous threads on the topic. This should give you an idea of what people around here think about the book.

 

 

Thread from 2005

 

Thread from 2004

 

another thread from 2004

 

and another thread from 2004

 

anyway, you get the picture. there're a bunch of threads about the book in the archive.

[passenger]

Jeff told me at Erin's LRS that he was still pissed that Kot hasn't returned photos that were "borrowed" from Sue and his family. I don't know if Jeff was kidding. He autographed my copy of the book "All lies!!!!"

[deepseacatfish]

It might be worthwhile using some material from The Wilco Book and I Am Trying To Break Your Heart just to get some more sources. I dunno.

[Sir Stewart]

It might be worthwhile using some material from The Wilco Book and I Am Trying To Break Your Heart just to get some more sources. I dunno.

And the "Umm..." section of this site is a good reference tool.

[JerseyMike]

fan biography or actually rather balanced

 

Fan bio. No doubt about it.

[deepseacatfish]

Yeah...uh...good luck on getting an "objective" source on anything related to this

[mpolak21]

Here's some stuff on Greg http://www.soundopinions.com/bio_greg.html. I'd recommend sending Kidsmoke a PM, as she is thanked in the acknowledgements of the book, she hooked Kot up with a lot of live show bootlegs which helped him write about some of the more infamous nights on the Being There tour. Also we have plenty of stuff in the archives about the book, good luck.

 

--Mike

[Kyjygyfyf]

I read this book a few months ago for the first time and, of course being a huge wilco fan, enjoyed it very much, devouring every page as quickly as possible. I know Kot because I used to live in chicago and read his columns in the arts section quite frequently. His writing style is not the most adorned -- pretty straightforward, as you've probably figured from reading the book. However, I thought the most interesting aspect of the book was the way he painted the relationship between tweedy and farrar. The dichotomy he draws is quite fascinating and a great theme that courses through the whole book and even into the present. Might give you a good discussion point.

[Guest Jules]

However, I thought the most interesting aspect of the book was the way he painted the relationship between tweedy and farrar. The dichotomy he draws is quite fascinating and a great theme that courses through the whole book and even into the present. Might give you a good discussion point.

 

Although one-sided, as has been pointed out in the other threads.

[LouieB]

Google "hagiography."

 

Good luck.

I have never even read it...only looked at the pics...

 

LouieB

[Edie]

Jeff told me at Erin's LRS that he was still pissed that Kot hasn't returned photos that were "borrowed" from Sue and his family. I don't know if Jeff was kidding. He autographed my copy of the book "All lies!!!!"

 

that's hilarious!

[Atticus]

Hello, all! I am writing a book review for English class about Greg Kot's book, "Wilco: Learning How To Die." I also will be doing a research paper based on an idea from the book, so I am kind of revved up in terms of getting to write a lot about music and especially about a band I admire so much. However, I am in dire need of assistance. I would like to get some views from others on the book: the pros and cons, whether it borders on being a fan biography or actually rather balanced. I myself am horribly biased about the band, particularly Tweedy, simply based on their output more than anything a book could ever convince me of. Other miscellaneous aspects of this project includes writing a biographical sketch of Kot (I can find nothing interesting about him besides that he is primarily a journalist for the Chicago Tribune) and presenting and analyzing other examples from the book. Also (even further!) I must present an oral report about it. Eek. My instructor said that handouts or a graphic via projector should be used in evaluating the book, but I am stumped. If only she had said I could use a boombox...

 

Anyway, I rambled all of that to say that any help in this matter is much appreciated.

 

are you supposed to draft a true subjective review of the book (I liked it/it stank) or judge the book against others in its genre (i.e it is a good/poor music-related bio)?

[Beltmann]

However, I thought the most interesting aspect of the book was the way he painted the relationship between tweedy and farrar. The dichotomy he draws is quite fascinating and a great theme that courses through the whole book and even into the present. Might give you a good discussion point.

I found that interesting as well, but I also felt that Kot had preconceived this dichotomy and then filtered everything so that it would fit into that neat literary story--at the expense of accuracy, fairness, and complexity.

[Analogman]

I call that "the John and Paul model" of rock book writing. The dude should dig up that Harp article where Jay talks about the book.

[mpolak21]

I call that "the John and Paul model" of rock book writing. The dude should dig up that Harp article where Jay talks about the book.

 

Good call A-Man. Here's the link: Farrar Harp Interview

 

--Mike

[Analogman]

It's online now - even. I recall scanning that, and then Wendy (I wouldn't hurt you like that) typing it.

[idigworms]

Hello, once again! I appreciate all of the links and such. After reading all of those threads, I now need some kind of drug that makes life easy to understand...or, at the very least, some H

[Guest Left Arm Tan]

Other miscellaneous aspects of this project includes writing a biographical sketch of Kot (I can find nothing interesting about him besides that he is primarily a journalist for the Chicago Tribune)

 

here's what i know about greg kot...

 

i sat next to Ken Sumka (who, coincidentally is from my hometown and went to the same high school as i did but had never met before or even heard of for that matter) from XRT at a cubs game once. i didn't know who he was, but later noticed that he jumped up to go talk to some guy a few rows down, who happened to be Greg Kot. so we got to talking after i asked him about knowing greg kot, and well, all the useful information he gave me was "he's a huge Giants fan" (as in San Francisco Giants).

 

hope that helps.

[idigworms]

here's what i know about greg kot...

 

i sat next to Ken Sumka (who, coincidentally is from my hometown and went to the same high school as i did but had never met before or even heard of for that matter) from XRT at a cubs game once. i didn't know who he was, but later noticed that he jumped up to go talk to some guy a few rows down, who happened to be Greg Kot. so we got to talking after i asked him about knowing greg kot, and well, all the useful information he gave me was "he's a huge Giants fan" (as in San Francisco Giants).

 

hope that helps.

 

Anyway...

 

...The problem I am facing with talking to my class is that I get the feeling that none of them have heard of Wilco, as strange as that may seem. I fear that I will begin talking about the band and allowing myself to mentally fill in the blanks, and lose them in the process. ("This Tweedy guy dreams of killing people? Whoa!," "Which Jay, now?," "Yankee Hotel What-what?") If anything, I would like this report to be a sort of turn-on for those who are unaware of just how good the band is, and though they haven't been around long enough to really be worthy of a definitive biography, the fact that one was written, one that only touches upon what makes them so good, should be reason enough to read the book and, you know, listen to some of their stuff.

 

Wishful thinking...

 

(And no one knows when Greg Kot was born? I might as well try to contact him myself about that.)

[passenger]

Anyway...

 

...The problem I am facing with talking to my class is that I get the feeling that none of them have heard of Wilco, as strange as that may seem. I fear that I will begin talking about the band and allowing myself to mentally fill in the blanks, and lose them in the process. ("This Tweedy guy dreams of killing people? Whoa!," "Which Jay, now?," "Yankee Hotel What-what?") If anything, I would like this report to be a sort of turn-on for those who are unaware of just how good the band is, and though they haven't been around long enough to really be worthy of a definitive biography, the fact that one was written, one that only touches upon what makes them so good, should be reason enough to read the book and, you know, listen to some of their stuff.

 

Wishful thinking...

 

(And no one knows when Greg Kot was born? I might as well try to contact him myself about that.)

 

One thing I can tell you is that Jeff commented that Greg seemed to focus on the early years (confirming Kyjygyfyf's observation) and surmised that it was because Greg was already quite familiar with the post-UT musicianship as a result of his work with the Tribune. I detected an element of bitterness in the comment (just MHO) - like that something written about Wilco ought to really be about Wilco and not about tweedy/farrar

[idigworms]

This is what I have, at the moment. I am not satisfied with it, even as it is a summary and not an analysis or criticism of the book. Still, I am posting it, in the spirit of a Wiki. Please, I am begging you, destroy this! But, like Jeff said once, "in a creative and liberating way."

 

Bibliographic Information: Kot, Greg. Wilco: Learning How To Die. 1st. New York: Broadway Books, 2004.

 

Summary: According to Chicago Tribune music critic Greg Kot in his book, "Wilco: Learning How To Die," Wilco, and in particular its founder, Jeff Tweedy, have become the complete opposite of what the music industry expects from a major-label recording artist. The work of Tweedy's previous band, Uncle Tupelo, which he founded in 1987 with high school friend Jay Farrar, was simple enough: American roots music, such as bluegrass, country, and folk, filtered through a hard rock mentality and sound.

 

As their stature soared, Farrar's relationship with Tweedy grew tumultuous and strained, leading to the 1994 breakup of Uncle Tupelo. In the wake of that split, Tweedy immediately formed Wilco, who, at first, were easy to categorize as merely a straightforward, countrified rock-and-roll band. But Kot notes that, with each album Wilco releases, they have consistently frustrated the expectations of their fans and the industry again and again by distancing themselves from their rootsy beginnings. With those creative strides, however, come unexpected waves of change.

 

The book's most dramatic example of that occurs amidst the making and release of Wilco's fourth album, "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot," during which time Tweedy dismissed two members of Wilco and recruited a new drummer and a new producer. Soon after, the band was unceremoniously dropped by Reprise Records, due to the label's hesitance to release the album, their most sonically and lyrically adventurous to date. Rather than waiting to release the album officially, Wilco began streaming it on their website for free, garnering attention from fans, the media, and record labels. Upon its release, "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot," became their highest charting and most selling album.

 

Over the course of its 244 pages, Kot definitively examines how Jeff Tweedy has dealt with, for better or worse, the pressures of his escalating fame, supporting a family, and conflicts with bandmates and his record label. Overall, the book is a championing of Tweedy's and Wilco's restless search for experimental freedom in defiance of the music industry's desire for quick success and easy marketability. Their struggle for personal and artistic satisfaction by challenging not only listeners, but also themselves, makes for a compelling and thrilling music biography.

 

Genre: The book falls into the categories of a journalistic biography of a music group, a study of Wilco's creative process in writing and recording music, and a criticism of the current music industry's focus on revenue over musical integrity.

 

Structure: The book's story is virtually portrayed in chronological order. Quotes from those involved in the story are told as hindsight reflections. There are some instances, however, that break out of a specific timeline in order to achieve an effect, such as the opening chapter's introduction to Jeff Tweedy during the recording of material for the 1999 Wilco album "Summerteeth." That scene is used as a segue into the outline that primes the reader for what is to come in subsequent chapters.

 

Persona: The book is written in the third-person narrative style, and details events as objectively as possible from a journalistic perspective. But on occasion the author is uncritical of Wilco's lead singer Jeff Tweedy to the point of almost sanctifying him. For example, in the opening chapter, Kot excuses Tweedy having "tripped beneath the wheel of drugs and alchohol, let friends slip away, fired bandmates without notice, and struggled through the ups and downs of marriage" because of his ability to embrace those flaws through his music.

 

Style: The language the author uses is typical of what would be written by an eloquent journalist: a third-person narrative at once clear and succinct in meaning and pace and rich and varied in choice of descriptive words and phrases. A few sections could be described as rambling in contrast to the rest of the book, such as when Kot takes time to detail the inception of the alternative country music magazine No Depression. But on average, each chapter covers close to a year, keeping the tempo of the book fairly fast-paced and succinct.

 

Mechanics: Overall, the book adheres to proper writing mechanics in such elements as proper spelling and capitalization; logical abbreviations, such as Greg Kot's mentioning of the band R.E.M. and CDs and DVDs being respectively accurate in their use or lack of punctuation; understandable compounding of words, such as when Kot describes the Wilco song "I'm Always In Love" as "Velvet Underground-worthy"; correct representation of numbers, such as the spelling of "three-quarters" and numbering of "$50 million"; and easy-to-read syllabication, as the words are neatly divided into syllables and hyphenated when necessary for proper formatting. Italicizing is used mostly to distinguish titles of music albums and magazines, but on occasion is used to emphasize both strong, unspoken thoughts and reproduced sounds. Paragraphs are primarily formatted with no space between their beginnings and ends, which can make reading a slight strain. Other than that aspect, however, it sticks firmly to appropriate mechanics of writing.

 

Biographical sketch: Greg Kot was born March 3, 1957 in Syracuse, New York. He graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in journalism from Marquette University in 1978. He worked for the Quad-City Times from 1978 to 1980 as an editor, where he first began writing about pop music. He then joined the Chicago Tribune as an editor from 1980 to 1989. During that time, Kot self-published with friends the music and culture fan magazine Ego, which was available on newsstands and in bookstores in Chicago, where he honed his writing chops in the process. In 1990, he became the head music critic for the Chicago Tribune, a position he has held ever since.

 

His work has appeared in such music magazines as Blender, Entertainment Weekly, Mojo, New York Times Sunday Book Review, Rolling Stone. His work has also appeared in Encyclopaedia Britannica and such books as "Harrison: A Rolling Stone Tribute to George Harrison," "Cash: By the Editors of Rolling Stone," "The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock," and "The New Rolling Stone Album Guide." He also appears in the 2002 Wilco documentary "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart," directed by Sam Jones.

 

Kot also co-hosts, along with Jim DeRogatis, music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, the music talk show "Sound Opinions," which broadcasts on radio, television and the internet. Kot also works as a youth basketball coach. He and his partners operate Over the Edge, a Chicago-based youth program that prepares grade-school athletes to compete at a high school. Kot is currently writing a new book, "Ripped: Indie-Rock and the Laptop Generation," to be published in 2008 by Scribner/Simon and Schuster. He lives in Chicago, Illinois with his wife and two daughters and, according to the section about the author in "Wilco: Learning How To Die," "far too many records."

 

Five research questions: (I only have two so far.) 1. What are the effects of adulation and myth-making heaped upon rock and roll artists? 2. How has the perception of music as commerce affected the creation of music of substance?

[Guest Left Arm Tan]

Sounds pretty good. Well done. Although, I'm disappointed you didn't mention Kot being a "huge Giants fan."

 

I've never read his book, but your review makes me want to read it, so good work.