Love Is a Mix Tape: Life, Loss, and What I Listened To

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What Is love? Great minds have been grappling with this question throughout the ages, and in the modern era, they have come up with many different answers. According to Western philosopher Pat Benatar, love is a battlefield. Her paisan Frank Sinatra would add the corollary that love is a tender trap. Love hurts. Love stinks. Love bites, love bleeds, love is the drug. The troubadours of our times agree: They want to know what love is, and they want you to show them. But the answer is simple: Love is a mix tape.

In the 1990s, when “alternative” was suddenly mainstream, bands like Pearl Jam and Pavement, Nirvana and R.E.M.—bands that a year before would have been too weird for MTV- were MTV. It was the decade of Kurt Cobain and Shania Twain and Taylor Dayne, a time that ended all too soon. The boundaries of American culture were exploding, and music was leading the way.

It was also when a shy music geek named Rob Sheffield met a hell-raising Appalachian punk-rock girl named Renée, who was way too cool for him but fell in love with him anyway. He was tall. She was short. He was shy. She was a social butterfly. She was the only one who laughed at his jokes when they were so bad, and they were always bad. They had nothing in common except that they both loved music. Music brought them together and kept them together. And it was music that would help Rob through a sudden, unfathomable loss.

In Love Is a Mix Tape, Rob, now a writer for Rolling Stone, uses the songs on fifteen mix tapes to tell the story of his brief time with Renée. From Elvis to Missy Elliott, the Rolling Stones to Yo La Tengo, the songs on these tapes make up the soundtrack to their lives.

Rob Sheffield isn’t a musician, he’s a writer, and Love Is a Mix Tape isn’t a love song- but it might as well be. This is Rob’s tribute to music, to the decade that shaped him, but most of all to one unforgettable woman.


From the Hardcover edition.

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James Patterson - author biographies

James Patterson was born March 22, 1947 Newburg, born in New York. He was born one of three children, father, Charles Patterson, an insurance broker, and mother, Isabel Patterson, a teacher and homemaker. James has studied English and received his BA from Manhattan College in 1969 and a master's degree in English at Vanderbilt College in 1970.

James took a job at the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson, as a junior editor. He worked until his chair. While working full time, startedmanuscript writing.

His first book, "The Thomas Berryman Number" was in 1976, after publishing after 31 publishers turned around and won an Edgar Award, the highest award in the mystery genre. James was working at the advertising agency until 1996 when he began to write full time. James says he quit his job in order to find a woman.

James Patterson's novel, "Along Came a Spider, was released in 1992. This novel, a bestseller, was the first of his Alex Cross seriesand was made into a movie with Morgan Freeman.

James Patterson has been criticized for its collaboration with various authors. But James said he gladly shares the spotlight with other authors. Working meet new and interesting ideas. He says that although it may be somewhat 'unorthodox world of publishing, "almost all TV shows are ... made by a team of authors. It is not as unusual as people think it is."

James Patterson founded and funds released The Page Turner. ThisFoundation awards $ 250,000 annually for institutions that promote the joy and excitement of reading. James has had the courage to write for children and young adults and has published several graphic novels.

James spent the winter in Palm Beach, Florida and summer in New York with his wife Susan and son Jack. Susan was four times an American swimmer and still swims twice a day. James is an avid golfer and enjoys a round or two with friends in spare timeTime.

Novels:
The Thomas Berryman Number (1976)
Season of the Machete (1976)
The Jericho Commandment (1979)
Virgin (1980)
Black Market (1986)
Midnight Club (1988)
Sam's Letters to Jennifer (1991)
Hide and Seek (1995)
Miracle on the 17th Green (1996) (with Peter De Jong)
Cradle and All (2000)
Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas (2001)
The Beach House (2002) (with Peter De Jong)
The Jester (2003) (with Andrew Gross)
Honeymoon (2005) (with HowardRoughan)
The Life Guard (2005) (with Andrew Gross)
Beach Road (2006) (with Peter De Jong)
Judge and Jury (2006) with Andrew Gross)
The Quickie (2007) (with Michael Ledwidge)
You have been warned (2007) (with Howard Roughan)
Sundays at Tiffany's (2008) (with Gabrielle Charbonnet)
Sail (2009) (with Howard Roughan)
Swimwear (2009) (with Maxine Paetro)
Witch and Wizard (2009) (with Gabrielle Charbonnet)
Do not Blink (2010)

Series:
Alex Cross:
Along Came a Spider(1992)
The Collector (1994)
Jack and Jill (1996)
Cat and mouse (1997)
Pop! Goes the Weasel (1999)
Roses Are Red (2000)
Violets are Blues (2001)
Four Blind Mice (2002)
The Big Bad Wolf (2003)
London Bridges (2004)
Mary Mary (2005)
Cross (2006)
Double Cross (2007)
Cross Country (2008)
Alex Cross Trial (2009) (with Richard DiLallo)
I, Alex Cross (2009)

When the wind blows:
When the Wind Blows (1998)
The Lake House (2003)

WomanMurder Club
Before he died (2001)
Second Chance (2002) (with Andrew Gross)
3rd degree (2004) (with Andrew Gross)
Fourth of July (2005 (Maxine Paetro)
The Fifth Horseman (2006) (Maxine Paetro)
The 6th Target (2007) (Maxine Paetro)
7th Heaven (2008) (Maxine Paetro)
Ninth Confession (2009) (Maxine Paetro)
Ninth Victim (2010)

Maximum Ride:
The Angel Experiment (2005)
Schools forever (2006)
Save the world and other extreme sports (2007)
Last warning(2008)
Max (2009)
Fang (2010)

Michael Bennett (with Michael Ledwidge)
Step on a Crack (2007)
Run For Your Life (2009)
Worst Case (2009)

Daniel X:
Alien Hunter (2008) (with gout Leopold)
Dangerous Days of Daniel X (2008) (with Michael Ledwidge)
Watch the Skies (2009) (Ned Rust)

Children's books:
Santakid (2004)

Graphic Novels:
Maximum Ride, Vol manga (in 2009)
Maximum Ride Manga Vol 2 (2009)

Non Fiction:
Torn Apart: The 'Heartbreaking story of a lost childhood (2008) (with Hal Friedman)
Murder of King Tut (2009) (Martin Dugard)