Review: Love Is A Mixtape

 Love Is A Mixtape by Rob Sheffield Published 2007


“My hands shook, down and out

I've got the blisters of the world

World new

I name the book after you”

“Shoot The Singer” by Pavement


Let me start of by saying this is my all-time favorite book. Knowing this, there are a few other things you should know… I like sad stories. And I like love stories. And I like non-fiction. And I love when all three come together in a way that makes you feel like you know the people in the story and you heart is breaking right along with theirs.


When I chose to read Love Is A Mixtape, my decision was made based on title and cover art. Typically I would not suggest this method for choosing books, but this one panned out. I had no idea what I was getting myself into and no idea I was about to embark on a literary journey that would break my heart over and over again. Chuck Klosterman called Love Is A Mixtape, "The happiest, saddest, sweetest book about rock 'n' roll that I've ever experienced." I could not agree more.


Love Is A Mixtape is the memoir of Rob Sheffield, written after his wife of five years died unexpectedly. Rob covers them meeting, falling in love, getting married, and the life they shared together for five years. He also cover her untimely and tragic death. A completely unexpected and sudden pulmonary embolism. Following their life together, Rob has to deal with tragedy and figure out how to keep living.


Each chapter begins with a mixtape, followed by the stories of Rob and wife Renee's connection to those songs. Now, I have never met Rob, but I feel like I know him. And I feel like I knew Renee. Rob's writing style draws the reader in and leaves you hanging on every word. He is full of pop culture references and raw emotion. I cannot begin to understand losing the person you though you would spend the rest of your life with in such a sudden and unexpected way, as Rob does with Renee, but damn if I did not feel my heart break as I read about Rob’s experience.


Read this one. You will not regret it.

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