The paperback edition of iconoclastic guitar player Marc Ribot's
darkly funny and subversive collection of writing, featuring brand-new
essays not included in the hardcover.
"A slim yet powerful book in which Marc Ribot blends bits of memoir with
strange little fictions, many of which are based on his own life and
career."
--Wall Street Journal
"Ribot . . . produced a book that is much like his musical output:
difficult to categorize but fascinating and engaging."
--Inside Hook
Throughout his genre-defying career as one of the most innovative
musicians of our time, iconoclastic guitar player Marc Ribot has
consistently defied expectation at every turn. Here, in the expanded
paperback edition of Ribot's first collection of writing, we see that
same uncompromising sensibility at work as he playfully interrogates our
assumptions about music, life, and death. Through essays--including some
new material not included in the hardcover--short stories, and the
occasional unfilmable film "mistreatment" that showcase the sheer range
of his voice, Unstrung captures an artist whose versatility on the
page rivals his dexterity onstage.
In the first section of the book, "Lies and Distortion," Ribot turns his
attention to his instrument--"my relation to the guitar is one of
struggle; I'm constantly forcing it to be something else"--and reflects
on his influences (and friends) like Robert Quine (the Voidoids) and
producer Hal Willner (Saturday Night Live), while delivering an
impassioned plea on behalf of artists' rights. Elsewhere, we glimpse
fragments of Ribot's life as a traveling musician--he captures both the
monotony of touring as well as small moments of beauty and despair on
the road. In the heart of the collection, "Sorry, We're Experiencing
Technical Difficulties," Ribot offers wickedly humorous short stories
that synthesize the best elements of the Russian absurdist tradition
with the imaginative heft of George Saunders. Taken together, these
stories and essays cement Ribot's position as one of the most dynamic
and creative voices of our time.
