Like Young

The latest collection of essays by peerless music and culture writer Francis Davis, who "has long combined Gary Giddins's musical acuity with Whitney Balliett's literary flair"-Boston Phoenix

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Modern jazz and rock'n' roll, both of which were once identified with youthful insurrection, have reached middle age. So have many longtime listeners -including Francis Davis. Now, in these thirty-one articles, the revered jazz critic considers music young and old, examining performers from Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday to Ornette Coleman and Sun Ra. But what makes this Davis's most surprising book is the inclusion of such pop icons as Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Burt Bacharach, and Lou Reed. Using himself as an example, Davis pinpoints our collective longing for a time when we (and our music) were younger-and more inclined to take risks. Lively, opinionated, gracefully written, and often very funny, Like Young is a book for those who have long savoured Davis's writing, as well as for those just now discovering him.