This is the next book on my rock & roll reading journey. At 674 pages, it is a mammoth rambling memoir, but fun to read. Told somewhat chronologically, Costello moves back and forth in time, relating anecdotes about his life that make me think he is still humble and surprised that he ever became the music icon we know today. I wasn’t the kind of kid who was so into music that I had Elvis Costello records. The only songs I remember from my youth are “Alison”, “Everyday I Write the Book” and “Watching the Detectives”. He was not really my cup of tea, though I thought those songs were OK. But, as I’ve grown older, I’ve seen his influence on the music industry and that’s why I am interested in reading this memoir.
Publisher’s Summary:Born Declan Patrick MacManus, Elvis Costello was raised in London and Liverpool, grandson of a trumpet player on the White Star Line and son of a jazz musician who became a successful radio dance band vocalist. Costello went into the family business and had taken the popular music world by storm before he was twenty-four.
Costello continues to add to one of the most intriguing and extensive songbooks of the day. His performances have taken him from a cardboard guitar in his front room to fronting a rock and roll band on your television screen and performing in the world’s greatest concert halls in a wild variety of company. “Unfaithful Music” describes how Costello’s career has somehow endured for almost four decades through a combination of dumb luck and animal cunning, even managing the occasional absurd episode of pop stardom.
The memoir, written entirely by Costello himself, offers his unique view of his unlikely and sometimes comical rise to international success, with diversions through the previously undocumented emotional foundations of some of his best known songs and the hits of tomorrow. The book contains many stories and observations about his renowned co-writers and co-conspirators, though Costello also pauses along the way for considerations on the less appealing side of infamy.
My sister recommended this book to me. It was one of the books she got for Christmas and I am curious to see what she thinks about it.
booksandbassets 
He is a musical icon, but he wasn’t my cup of tea either. I was more of a fan of the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, and Journey. I’ve become a huge Rush fan in adulthood, though. Their musicianship is incredible. A little on the progressive rock side, but amazing lyrics and music. 🙂
I saw Rush in concert at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto in 1986.
Wow. I bet they were great. We saw them a couple of years ago and they really put on a good show. I heard a rumor they aren’t touring anymore because Neil Peart has arthritis and has a hard time playing the drums, but I haven’t heard any confirmation on that rumor yet. I’m hoping it isn’t true.