READING IS FUCKINMENTAL / Jason Matthew Smith

NEW & NOTEWORTHY

Today we’ll take a look at some upcoming books you may want to check out. Keep in mind that some of these may not be worth a quart of lukewarm monkey jizz, but they have the potential to be pretty good reads. Emphasis on potential. Consider yourself warned: Don’t blame me if these things turn out to be ossified dog turds between covers.

Join Together: Forty Years of the Rock Music Festival, by Marley Brant (Backbeat Books, released June 15)

If the sum total of your knowledge of rock festivals begins and ends with Lollapalooza, it’s time for a little history lesson. And a swift kick in the ass. Author Marley Brant provides the former, and I’ll provide the latter (just shoot me an e-mail and we’ll line that up). Yes, Altamont and the Woodstocks (the original and the pale imitators) are here—along with the lesser-known music fests. This book is touted to put the festivals in their proper social context. Now you’ll know why Altamont was such a glorious fuckfest of fists and felony arrests.

Goodbye 20^th Century: A Biography of Sonic Youth, by David Browne (Da Capo Press, released June 14)

Worshipers at the altar of Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon should get a kick out of this bio, complete with never-before-seen pics and a slew of interviews with Sonic Youth bandmates, hangers-on, and friends of friends tangentially connected to the band. The book will reportedly be a fairly exhaustive account of SY from the early days on the Lower East Side to today.

The Gospel According to Bruce Springsteen: Rock and Redemption, from Asbury Park to Magic, by Jeffrey B. Symynkywicz (Westminster John Knox Press, released June 16)

Uh, make that the Reverend Jeffrey B. Symynkywicz, pastor of the First Parish Universalist Church of Stoughton, Mass. This book joins similar titles by Westminster John Knox—part of the publishing arm of the Presbyterian Church (USA)—examining the roles of pop culture icons in shaping faith in America. Or something. Previous titles in The Gospel According to … series focused on the Beatles and (wait for it … wait …) Oprah Winfrey. But you have to admit that the blue collar ballads of The Boss have a certain spiritual appeal, and are far more interesting than another reading of Leviticus. The good Rev. Symynkywicz analyzes this intersection of faith and music—so if you’re a militant atheist of the Christopher Hitchens mold, you probably won’t dig it. Otherwise, it may just fill a gap in your collection of Saint Springsteen scripture.

Jason Matthew Smith is a Texan who never developed an accent, thanks to a steady diet of television reruns during his formative years. He now lives in Utah, where everyone thinks he sounds just like John Astin, the original Gomez Addams.