For the misfits, there will always be music. As the sound track to basement parties, late-night drives, and solitary rituals of self-pity, the right music gives context and momentum to the bewildering process of growing up. In this passionate, poetic memoir, Lavinia Greenlaw searches out diaries, LP covers, and old mix tapes to recall the torment and ecstasy of coming alive through music. The Importance of Music to Girls recalls the adventures that music makes possible: sneaking out, falling in love, cutting our hair off, terrifying our parents, and challenging the world. Greenlaw's memoir reminds us how powerfully music has influenced the growth of our minds, and how inspiring the right song can be.

Praise

"Has the precision and intensity of prose poetry . . . brilliantly traces the shaping of a rich, complex self."--Chicago Tribune

"A brief, masterful memoir."--The New Yorker

"Exhilarating . . . perfectly evokes the sense of release and rebellion of a teenage girl driving through the countryside with boyfriends, blasting heavy metal on the car radio. . . . An amazing feat of inventiveness."--Salon.com

"Greenlaw brings her youth to life in this book. . . . Readers will hear the accompanying sound track wafting off the pages."--The Washington Post

"Highly original . . . will resonate with everyone who has ever danced around a handbag or played air guitar."--Daily Mail (UK)

"Highly original . . . I’ve never read anything like it."--The Buffalo News

About the Author(s)

Lavinia Greenlaw

LAVINIA GREENLAW is a novelist and poet. She was once in a band. She lives in London and is a professor of creative writing at the University of East Anglia.

photo: Sarah Lee