If you’re looking for your next summer read, best-selling author Rob Sheffield is gracing the world with his third musical memoir, Turn Around Bright Eyes. You might know him from his epic commentary on various VH1 clip shows or his writing for Rolling Stone.
More importantly, he is a master of recounting the musical flash bulb moments of his life. He manages to make these very specific life experiences feel relatable, by focusing on the universal act of experiencing love through music. We all identify great loves, epic crushes, passing affairs, and everyone in between with the songs that set the scene, capture our feelings, or were the object of our affection’s latest obsession. He names every artist, quotes every song, and never with a hint of irony. He genuinely loves what he loves and makes no apologies for it, as is evident in his latest topic- karaoke.
After tackling mix tapes and the best the 80’s have to offer and their place in his teen romances and through his relationship with his late wife, he now picks up where he left off to examine the transformative nature of karaoke, how he came out of his shell to become a karaoke fiend, and also how he found his current wife in the process.
Turn Around Bright Eyes comes out on August 6 and is available at Criminal Records and local book stores. Sheffield will be making a special appearance, September 1st at this year’s Decatur Book Festival.
