Love is a Mix Tape is a book about music lists, mid-90s alt-rock and sudden death, written by a self-confessed craven hermit. How could anyone who had actually read (or, let's be honest, even skimmed) the manuscript think that the cover above was going to be a good idea? The overall effect is topped-off by a lovely gold spine, with title reversed out in white.
I had read some mildly-positive reviews and almost bought a copy a year or two ago when it had the original trade paperback cover, but for some reason I resisted. When I saw the mass market version in a well-known discount bookstore a few weeks ago I almost didn't recognise it, but once I had made the connection was sufficiently interested to lash out and spend $5.
It isn't as bad as you might imagine from the cover – there are some good lines ("does your boy-friend wear glasses", "no a walkman") and touching passages – but overall it is not good.
It was probably never going to be the easiest commission, but how could it go so badly wrong? I can almost see the sales and marketing meeting:
Sales expert "hmmm, the trade paperback didn't take off like we expected, even with some good reviews and catalogue placement"
Marketing expert "what we need is a completely new direction ... can we try to tap into a slighty wider market than mid-30s, sad loser, music obsessives?"
Sales "great idea – lets go for the girlfriends of mid-30s, sad loser, music obsessives as well!"
Marketing "excellent – I'll see what we can come up with"
However, I really should have guessed from the titles of books advertised on the last few pages – Alice in La La Land, The Shoe Queen, Gucci Mamas and Not Meeting Mr Right ...
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