John Sellers: Perfect From Now On

     I'd like to take a break from posting about my music collection and mention the book that inspired the Sound Mind blog. After 81 posts, you've probably pieced together that I work at a book store. Over the past 17 years, I've seen and read a lot of books. When we received Perfect From Now On by John Sellers in 2007, it immediately grabbed my attention. The cover is red and black with the title in big block letters. The subtitle is "How Indie Rock Saved My Life". The inside flap has a music list and mentions Pavement and Guided by Voices. It even has a blurb on the back from millionaire genius John Hodgman. Through a zany chain of events, I bought this book. One of my benefits for working at a book store is that I can check out books for product knowledge purposes. So I checked out Perfect From Now On and took it home to read. One night, I set the book down on the stairs and forgot about it and went to bed. The next morning, I woke to discover that my dog had gotten hold of the book. The jacket was on the stairs and the book was on the floor with a bite taken out of the back cover. The dog ate my homework! However, the actual pages were fine so I kept reading it. A couple days later, there was a bee in our house. Now, I'm pretty sure one of the reasons my wife is still married to me is for in home insect eradication. That night I was at work, so she was forced to deal with it herself. Her weapon of choice was Perfect From Now On. So, not only did the book I checked out have a dog bite, it also had bee guts on the cover. Needless to say, I had to buy the book.
     In truth, I would have bought Perfect From Now On even had it not be mutilated. I felt like Mr. Sellers and I were kindred spirits. We both grew up in Michigan. He's a little younger than me, but we have similar cultural reference points. I'm sure we both listened to Journey and Foreigner on WLAV in Grand Rapids. He harbored a secret love of Duran Duran's pop genius. He loves making lists. We both love Guided by Voices. And he hates Bob Dylan's music.  Like me, he feels bad about disliking an American icon. Who doesn't love Dylan? Sellers and I. John Sellers had the misfortune of having a father who was obsessed with Bob Dylan. He was constantly subjected to Zimmerman's indecipherable caterwauling (my words, not his). He likened it to child abuse. This is crucial to the premise of Sound Mind. The subtitle of my blog is "A Living Will For My Music Collection". I'm trying to give my kids some guidance for the day when they inherit my collection. Some might ask, "Why don't you just force your music on them"? Because it could turn abusive. I had to find my own way musically. John Sellers had to find his own way. However, there are people in your life who expose you to great music and I hope that's what this blog does for my kids (or whoever else reads it). That being said, I did force The Beatles on my three youngest after blowing it with my oldest.
     Perfect From Now On is a hilarious and poignant autobiography. John Sellers takes the reader on a self-deprecating journey of musical discovery. It's a journey that goes from Michigan to New York to Manchester to Dayton. If you like humorous memoirs and music you have to read this book. And it is replete with musical lists. Here's a list of my favorite Seller's lists that I'm too lazy to bother with myself. Peace.

*   Top Ten albums, with best song and worst song included
*   Top songs that appear last on an album
*   Top 5 songs that I am most annoyed by in all the world
*   Top 5 most disappointing albums
*   Top 5 musical things I hope happen now that the original lineups of the Pixies and Dinosaur Jr have reunited