For those of a certain age and sensibility, the truly modern American version of John Ruskin’s pathetic fallacy is the mix tape. Who hasn’t spent hours trying to create the perfect soundtrack for friends, family, lovers, or for those purely personal moments of heartache and exultation? Longtime rock critic Rob Sheffield has a particularly keen understanding of music’s ability to tap into our deepest emotional reservoirs and expose vulnerabilities, memories, and all manner of scar tissue. Love is a Mix Tape is his wrenching and frequently funny account of life and love, as viewed through a batch of songs—part scrim, part security blanket—that provided comfort and catharsis in a very dark time.
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