Amanda Petrusich is the author of It Still Moves: Lost Songs, Lost Highways, and the Search for the Next American Music (Faber and Faber) and Pink Moon, an installment in Continuum’s acclaimed 33 1/3 series. She is a staff writer for Pitchfork and a Contributing Editor at The Oxford American
“One of the best things I've read about that inexplicably, but
endlessly, fascinating group of people, the so-called Serious
Collectors of 78s. Petrusich burrows into not just their
personalities but the hunger that unites and drives their
obsessions. She writes elegantly, and makes you think, and most
important,manages to hang onto her skepticism in the midst of her
own collecting quest.”
*John Jeremiah Sullivan, author of "Pulphead"*
“This is an adventure story: Amanda in the Land of MagicalShellac.
Petrusich, a warm and witty writer and longtime music
journalist,encounters the eccentric, soulful characters who've
devoted their lives thearcane practice of hunting old records,
shares stories of great lost musicians,and ponders the
philosophical issues that make collecting more than just afancy
version of hoarding. Readers will be delighted to become her
confidanteson this life-changing journey.”
*Ann Powers, author of "Weird Like Us: My Bohemian America"*
"I don't know hillbilly from Blind Willie, but I loved Amanda
Petrusich's archaeology of an almost-lost world of American music.
Do Not Sell at Any Price is like a well-loved 78: it pops, it
crackles, it seduces utterly."
*Ken Jennings, author of "Maphead"*
“This is American history as the tale of an American obsession—the
record collectors, be they scholars, scroungers, hoarders, or
heroes. In this brilliant book, Petrusich hits the road with these
junk-shop blues Ahabs around the country—she makes you feel the
frenzy of the chase, on a crazed, loving quest to rescue lost music
from oblivion.”
*Rob Sheffield, author of "Love Is a Mix Tape" and "Turn Around
Bright Eyes"*
"Amanda Petrusich’s fascinating and insightful journey into the
arcane netherworld of 78 records and its bring-`em-back-alive
collectors brims with the joy and passion of discovery, along with
a heartfelt affection for those who keep alight the flame of our
musical heritage."
*Lenny Kaye, guitarist, "Nuggets" anthologist, author "You Call It
Madness"*
“Petrusich enters the dusty realms of 78 rpm record junkies, and
like Rolling Stones chronicler Stanley Booth, catches her subjects'
disease. But she's mostly interested in the emotional heart of
things, and the old music's strange power. An entertaining road
tale and moving self-interrogation that dives deep for answers,
sometimes literally.”
*Will Hermes, author of "Love Goes to Buildings on Fire"*
“Do Not Sell at Any Price tracks generations of obsessive
collectors who dedicated their lives to the holy grail of blues and
country music—78rpm records. Inspired by collectors like R. Crumb
and Harry Smith, Amanda Petrusich wants each record `to keep
playing forever, from somewhere deep inside my skull.’ Her book is
essential reading for all who love American music.”
*William Ferris, author of "Blues from the Delta" and "The Storied
South"*
"An engaging and deeply personal journey, for both the writer and
her subjects, and an adroit disquisition on the nature of this
distinctly American form of insatiable lust."
*Kirkus Reviews*
“[A] thoughtful, entertaining history of obsessed music collectors
and their quest for rare early 78 rpm records…Fascinating.”
*Los Angeles Times*
“Ms. Petrusich goes on a pilgrimage to see and hear firsthand the
legendary holdings of the top collectors…[she] brings a discerning
eye to her profiles.”
*Wall Street Journal*
“[Petrusich] weaves her interviews with personalobservations and
just the right amount of dry humor to make us feel as if
we’relooking (and listening) over her shoulder as she travels up
and down the EastCoast…a propulsive read."
*Denver Post*
“Do Not Sell enticingly chronicles [Petrusich’s] immersion in a
subset of record collectors…Her compelling, finely drawn portraits
such as James McKune and Harry Smith amount to a rich study.”
*Entertainment Weekly*
“Captivating…Whether you’re already a 78 aficionado, a casual
record collector, a crate-digger, or just someone like me who
enjoys listening to music, you’re going to love this book…Elegant
and witty.”
*Slate*
"Do Not Sell at Any Price is full of little epiphanies ...
[Petrusich's] persistence pays off in the form of stories and
observations that humanize the collectors and their pursuit ...
[Petrusich] effectively uses the prism of her personal experience
to analyze the aesthetics of collecting, consuming and enjoying
music."
*New York Times*
"A profound rumination on the idea of recording, asking what it
means to capture sound, to be moved by it, and ultimately, to
obsess over it. With “Do Not Sell at Any Price,” we have an
astounding new writer not of musical criticism but of longform
narrative prose. When Petrusich writes about music, she is akin
Keats writing about a Greek vase: She is telling us what it means
to be human beings adrift in time."
*Baltimore City Paper*
"In this entertaining book about the finite universe of oddballs
who scrounge frantically to collect the shellac fossils the rest of
us consider worthless, you get all the joy of discovery without
having to grub through boxes at garage sales.... Petrusich proves
an engaging, frequently funny tour guide."
*The Boston Globe*
"Full of strange, even beautiful, tales of obsession....Even
someone who knows little or nothing about 78s will find Petrusich's
book an incredibly enjoyable read."
*Fine Books Magazine*
"A wise, entertaining study of 78 rpm collectors.... Petrusich
writes beautifully."
*The Wire Magazine*
"Exquisitely crafted...an offbeat experiment in embedded
journalism."
*Chicago Tribune*
“Petrusich’s personal journey through the lives and legacies of the
`Blues Mafia’ reshuffles their twice-told stories and makes of them
something new…excellent.”
*San Francisco Chronicle*
"This book is so alive to its subject, to the grail of the
music.... Petrusich will make you desperate not only to hear the
records she’s writing about...but to feel the way they make her
feel, to feel the mask dissolve on your own face.
*The Believer*
“Petrusich wisely and insightfully goes beyond just documenting
these collectors’ peculiarities, as she also traces the history of
early American recordings and their legacy in contemporary music.
Perhaps most powerfully, the book serves as a treatise on the act
of collecting itself, probing the psychological, social, and
cultural implications arising from these pursuits of passion.”
*Los Angeles Review of Books*
"A travelogue into the most beautiful corners of obsession.
Petrusich is a top-flight music writer—meticulous, generous, and
deeply informed. But she’s also a terrific curator of human
subjects, from the lovesick collectors who make up the bulk of her
narrative to the towering, still-shadowy names that grace these
circular hunks of shellac... Do Not Sell At Any Price is as
idiosyncratic, alluring and totally alive as the scratchy sides
that consume it."
*Slate*
"Lively and entertaining."
*Buzzfeed*
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