Love for Sale, David Hajdu
Love for Sale, David Hajdu
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
Club: $9.97

Love for Sale
Pop Music in America

Author: David Hajdu

Narrator: George Newbern

Unabridged: 8 hr 10 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/18/2016


Synopsis

From revered music critic David Hajdu comes a personal, idiosyncratic history of popular music.David Hajdu begins Love for Sale, his personal history of recorded pop music, in an unexpected place—not with nostalgic reminiscences of the 45s of his youth but with the sheet music era at the end of the nineteenth century. It was not so much the beginning of popular music—many songs were already popular—as it was the beginning of the popular music industry. And if he’s going to understand what his 45s meant to him, this is the place to start: the rise of Tin Pan Alley, of minstrelsy, of million-copy sellers and one-hit wonders, and of cultural arbiters decrying the baseness, simplicity, and signs of the end of times in popular music.From there, Hajdu takes us on more unexpected routes through the history of pop music—back to Alexander Graham Bell and the invention of records … and to his grandmother’s collection of Italian crooners on shellac records that young Hajdu liberated from her New Jersey basement. And neither Italians nor New Jersey are incidental to his story—not just because of Frank Sinatra but because Hajdu’s mom, a waitress in a chrome-clad diner on Route 22, helped shape the fate of a budding young music critic by introducing him to one of the diner’s most prominent patrons, the writer of the timeless song “I’m from New Jersey.”Love for Sale does ultimately spin through more familiar territory—the Cotton Club, the rise of radio, the battle of disco versus punk for the soul of New York as Hajdu made his chops as a critic, the rise of hip-hop, and the current atomization of the music landscape—but it is always with a unique, insightful, and eloquently presented point of view, as one would expect from one of our most celebrated music critics.

About David Hajdu

David Hajdu is the author of Lush Life and Positively 4th Street. He lives in Manhattan and writes for the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, New Republic, and New York Review of Books.

About George Newbern

George Newbern has appeared in Father of the Bride, Father of the Bride II, Evening Star, Adventures in Babysitting, and many other films. On television, he has had roles on Scandal, Friends, Nip/Tuck, Hot in Cleveland, CSI, and more. He is also known for providing the voice of Superman in Justice League and for narrating audiobooks.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Paul on August 29, 2019

David Hadju tells me that Auto-Tune was developed by a guy called Harold Hildebrand “as an outgrowth of his research in the analysis of seismic data for the purpose of finding oil”. So that’s a bit mad, innit? Auto-Tune is used a whole lot in modern music and this enrages some people. Add to that a......more

Goodreads review by Tara on March 27, 2017

A fascinating book. I was heading for four stars for this book, but the chapter on digitization lifted it to five. An odd - but functional - mix of personal stories of music and popular cultural history, this book explores the changing platforms and genres in American popular music. Importantly, it d......more

Goodreads review by Nicolas on November 09, 2022

I really loved this book; being a lover of old pop music, it helped situate so much of what I find dear in the complicated story of music history. While I don’t listen to modern pop too much, I loved the situation of that as well. Always, with Hajdu, it is just fun to read. Happy I read and ordered......more

Goodreads review by Sally Anne on March 02, 2018

I found this book to be charming, idiosyncratic, and interesting. I didn't agree with all of his opinions or even his history, but all in all a worthy read. His chapter on digital is worth the entire book. I found his enthusiasm quite engaging, more so in the audio version (I flipped between the two)......more

Goodreads review by Harriett on April 04, 2017

Very well done. Lots of new information and great insights. Hajdu really puts it all together.......more


Quotes

“Writing in graceful prose, Hajdu nicely balances brisk historical narrative, shrewd cultural analysis, and opinionated personal reflection…Absorbing.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“This beautifully told history of popular music, like a great pop song, is full of memorable lines.” Library Journal

“[A] deft examination of the history and meaning of popular music…An essential purchase for all pop-culture collections.” Booklist

“A highly learned pleasure for music and pop-culture buffs.” Kirkus Reviews

A work of wide-ranging historical observation that also feels personal, vivid, and particular.” Shelf Awareness

Love for Sale…is easy to devour


Awards

  • Library Journal Editor’s Pick
  • Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year