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See A Little Light: The Trail Of Rage And Melody (2011)

by Bob Mould(Favorite Author)

3.71 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

031604508X (ISBN13: 9780316045087)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Little, Brown and Company

review 1: Interesting portrait of a complex man and his multi-pronged career - 80s DIY punk impresario, respected singer-songwriter, pro-wrestling script writer, EDM DJ and music producer - with worthwhile, honest accounts of soul-searching, demon-battling, and gender identity-questing. I quite enjoyed most of the book, but at nearly 400-pages, with many superfluous details about his many solo tours and somewhat boastful accounts of his dating activity, it could have been edited down a bit. Still, a recommended memoir.
review 2: I actually read this when originally published in 2011. Friends know I am a huge Husker Du and Sugar fan (not so much his solo work -- esp. the later stuff after "Workbook" -- it all sounds "samey" and formulaic to me but, I'm digressing...). Na... moreturally, as with any fan, I want to know more about the artist responsible for much of that musical output. To keep it simple, the majority of artists are somehow screwed up inside and create their art to help make sense of this crazy, messed-up thing called life. Bob Mould is no different in that respect. Parts I enjoyed most were about his formative years (I intensely identified with growing up in a small, close-minded conservative town and using music and art as escape mechanisms). I also enjoyed the parts that covered the Husker Du years. Oddly, he's not as connected to the music from that period as his fans are (as with many fans, "Zen Arcade" changed/saved my life back in high school back in 1984 - a high school classmate gave me a Maxell XL-90 cassette of "Zen Arcade", and that was probably one of the most important cassettes I've ever received). This is pretty much a 'must' for any fan of Mould's work. However, as others have noted, he pretty much avoids his creative process from a songwriting POV. In the end, what emerges is a portrait of an artist who was initially intensely conflicted with himself and his sexuality (and it doesn't help that he was sexually abused when he was just 6 by a babysitter) -- and his music reflected that. But he eventually came into his own and is now comfortable in his own skin, which is probably a state we all long for: self actualization. Overall, I enjoyed this and recommend to all Husker/Sugar fans. At one point Mould admits to writing short stories, and based on his work here, we can only hope he publishes those stories -- I'd buy a copy! less

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