The Ink in the Grooves - by Florence Dore (Paperback)

About the Book

"What is the relation between rock and literature? Compiled by 'rock novel' lit professor and indie musician Florence Dore, The Ink in the Grooves is a collection of essays and interviews about rock and literature from some of the most renowned novelists and musicians of our day-a backstage pass to musings on this topic from Richard Thompson, Colson Whitehead, Steve Earle, Michael Chabon, Rhiannon Giddens, Lucinda Williams, and others." --

Book Synopsis

Drop the record needle on any vinyl album in your collection, then read the first pages of that novel you've been meaning to pick up--the reverberations between them will be impossible to miss. Since Dylan went electric, listening to rock 'n' roll has often been a surprisingly literary experience, and contemporary literature is curiously attuned to the history and beat of popular music. In The Ink in the Grooves, Florence Dore brings together a remarkable array of acclaimed novelists, musicians, and music writers to explore the provocatively creative relationship between musical and literary inspiration: the vitality that writers draw from a three-minute blast of guitars and the poetic insights that musicians find in literary works from Shakespeare to Southern Gothic. Together, the essays and interviews in The Ink in the Grooves provide a backstage pass to the creative processes behind some of the most exciting and influential albums and novels of our time.

Contributors: Laura Cantrell, Michael Chabon, Roddy Doyle, Bob Dylan, Steve Earle, William Ferris, Dom Flemons, Rhiannon Giddens, Dave Grohl, Peter Guralnick, Amy Helm, Randall Kenan, Jonathan Lethem, Greil Marcus, Rick Moody, Lorrie Moore, the John Prine band (Dave Jacques, Fats Kaplin, Pat McLaughlin, Jason Wilber), Dana Spiotta, John Jeremiah Sullivan, Richard Thompson, Scott Timberg, Daniel Wallace, Colson Whitehead, Lucinda Williams, Warren Zanes.

Review Quotes

Novelists, musicians, and other cultural movers and shakers muse on the intersection of literature and rock music in this rich collection of essays. Music lovers with a literary bent will find this worth tuning in to.

-- "Publishers Weekly"

Florence Dore has created an excellent collection of old and new writing that explores the convergence of rock and literature. Readers will want to take the time to slowly savor this rich gathering.

-- "Booklist"

Florence Dore's search along the seam of rock music and fiction evinces rare moments in the lives of writers and musicians, epiphanies suggesting a shared psyche of art seeking freedom, art quaking with hungers of expression that anyone who has gone stomp-down dancing in a club where the music soars will feel into the bone.

-- "The Daily Beast"

About the Author

Florence Dore is a Nashville-born, North Carolina-based musical artist as well as Professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her second album, 2022's Highways and Rocketships, was produced by Don Dixon and Mitch Easter. She is the author of Novel Sounds and coexecutive producer for the Billboard-charting compilation album Cover Charge.