#12 Love Is A Mix Tape Rob Sheffield

Jacket Copy: Mix tapes: We all have our favorites. Stick one into a deck, press play, and you’re instantly transported to another time in your life. For Rob Sheffield, that time was one of miraculous love and unbearable grief. A time that spanned seven years, it started when he met the girl of his dreams, and ended when he watched her die in his arms. Using the listings of fifteen of his favorite mix tapes, Rob shows that the power of music to build a bridge between people is stronger than death. You’ll read these words, perhaps surprisingly, with joy in your heart and a song in your head—the one that comes to mind when you think of the love of your life.

Similar to: Joan Didion’s “The Year of Magical Thinking,” Chuck Klosterman, Nick Hornby

Highlights:

--shows how we all use pop culture as a mirror of our emotional lives

--you would think the idea of a story told through mixed tapes would be unbearably clichéd and corny, but he manages to make this the opposite of that

--a tribute to the parts of the 90s that are most often forgotten but most in need of remembering