Lindeen's Book Out Now!!!

[cford]

irene said:

Hey folks,
Been a Replacements/Westerberg fan for years & finally got around to joining MWT.
Monday purchased Petal Pusher & I now have my 1st official question: Does anyone know why one would write a memoir & not include pictures? Even the Books-A-Million associate did a double take when she looked at the book! Nice read & all but still...

I do not know, but I share your question... At several points throughout the book she describes the various band promo pictures in some detail... It would have been nice to have those printed.

CF

[Kathy]

I've read a lot of memoirs without pitures so it didn;t strike me as unusual -- maybe it's an artistic choice (wanting people to focus on the writing to get a 'picture' of things)?

That said...

Dear Jim Walsh:

Please include LOTS of pictures in the Mats books.

Your Friend,
Kathy

[irene]

Sure I've read memoirs w/out the benefit of pictures, but most folks w/ a career in rock realize photos of your band's history is part of the story. "Every picture tells a story" indeed. Hey, it's also a proven way to boost the sales of a book! It woulda been a nice introduction to Lindeen & Zuzu's Petals, since I don't think most folks outside of Minneapolis know the name.
Heck, I wouldn't know who Laurie Lindeen is without her association to Westerberg, ya know?

[jodi, queen of the underground]

Thing is pics are expensive, it messes up the printing signatures and you have to get the rights to print them from the original photog, model releases, all that good stuff. This book is published my some small press and not like Simon & Schuster, someone with the bucks and resources for this kind of thing.

[kgp]

I thought Atria was part of Simon and Schuster?

[jodi, queen of the underground]

fuck, you're right. I should have done my research, Simon & Schuster was just the first big publishing house I could think of.

My point still stands, it's pricey for pics and I'm guessing (though who would believe me now) that Atria's just a small imprint.

[BlitzkriegBob]

For $26 some pictures would have been nice. My contribution to Johnny's college fund.

I've read lots of rock memoirs and I think this one is only okay.

For some reason hearing about Paul on dates creeps me out.

[Kathy]

blitzkriegbob said:

For $26 some pictures would have been nice. My contribution to Johnny's college fund.

I've read lots of rock memoirs and I think this one is only okay.

For some reason hearing about Paul on dates creeps me out.

Good lord, where did you pay $26 for this book, it's $16 on Amazon.com! Comparison shop, people!

I'm about 75% thru the book and maybe it's a female thing, but I am throughly enjoying it, as the story of someone's life, not specifically just the music aspects of it (though of course, I find those really interesting). There's a lot in there about friendships and family and dealing with her illness that is compelling, sans the musical aspect.

I don't find the parts about Paul creepy, though someone else mentioned they felt like you. By the time he's introduced into the story, it's pretty far into the book and though in one way I was fan-girly reading those parts ("Paul dunks his grilled cheese sandwiches in ketchup too!"), at that point in the book, what was interesting was looking at the relationship from her perspective, in terms of dating someone who is a musical icon, when you're still struggling.

[irene]

I agree, BlitzkriegBob( never in my sweet, short life have I began a sentence like that)
C'mon, it's not like Lindeen was compiling for a major project (writing the book was the project); it's just a few flippin' photos that coulda been thrown into her life story, for the love of Pete Townsend...
I have done my research: Atria is a division of Simon & Schuster. Simon & Schuster = heavy coinage. They got pictures in colour & everthing( not like those cheap bastards over at Harpercollins)

[kgp]

blitzkriegbob said:

For $26 some pictures would have been nice. My contribution to Johnny's college fund.

I've read lots of rock memoirs and I think this one is only okay.

For some reason hearing about Paul on dates creeps me out.

admin said:

Good lord, where did you pay $26 for this book, it's $16 on Amazon.com! Comparison shop, people!

I'm about 75% thru the book and maybe it's a female thing, but I am throughly enjoying it, as the story of someone's life, not specifically just the music aspects of it (though of course, I find those really interesting). There's a lot in there about friendships and family and dealing with her illness that is compelling, sans the musical aspect.

I don't find the parts about Paul creepy, though someone else mentioned they felt like you. By the time he's introduced into the story, it's pretty far into the book and though in one way I was fan-girly reading those parts ("Paul dunks his grilled cheese sandwiches in ketchup too!"), at that point in the book, what was interesting was looking at the relationship from her perspective, in terms of dating someone who is a musical icon, when you're still struggling.

I enjoyed it too, and I've read a lot of memoirs, rock or otherwise (probably far more than is healthy). I wasn't creeped out by Paul qua "the boyfriend," as it takes place early on in their relationship (I thought it was kind of sweet, actually), and as Kathy said, from the perspective of a struggling musician dating an icon.

[MikeR]

My guess is that the publisher might have been willing to throw in some photo pages if Laurie had agreed to artificially focus the book more on Paul. I think it's to her credit that she didn't go down that road...

[irene]

Well, now that you mention it...Perhaps Paul had the last word on it? "No photos of me"

[jodi, queen of the underground]

irene said:

Well, now that you mention it...Perhaps Paul had the last word on it? "No photos of me"

I think you're missing the point that she wrote a book about her and not about Paul.

[Monkey]

Guys, she's probably saving all the pictures for the Tuesdays With Paul coffee-table book coming out next year.

[Wolfdog]

I'm waiting for the pop-up book.

[jodi, queen of the underground]

monkey said:

Guys, she's probably saving all the pictures for the Tuesdays With Paul coffee-table book coming out next year.

Is that the one with the punch out Paper Dolls?

[irene]

Now a pop-up "Tuesdays with Paul" coffee table book people would buy! With all due respect to Ms. Lindeen, would anybody on this messageboard be interested in "Petal Pusher" if not for Westerberg? Yep, I happen to be from the school of "That horse is not dead" so I shall say it again: Authors/Rockers penning their life story usually slap a few pics in the book.
Since Westerberg is mentioned in the book( & not the focus of the book) why wouldn't his photo be included with other photos from her life?

[MikeR]

irene said:

Authors/Rockers penning their life story usually slap a few pics in the book.

That would be a true statement if we were talking about a band/artist who had acheved widespread popularity, but Zuzu's Petals isn't very well-known outside of Minnesota. Given that her own band isn't known by the masses, and also given that she didn't want to write a book about Paul, who is only marginally known by the masses himself, the success of Petal Pusher seems to be largely dependent on the quality of the writing and Laurie's ability to connect with a wide audience. From that point of view, I suspect the publisher saw photos as an added expense that would not make the book any more likely to sell. Hence, no photos.

[irene]

Agreed Mike. In fact, your post is almost verbatim to my earlier post: Not many people outside Minneapolis are familiar w/ Lindeen or Zuzu's Petals, so it would only be fitting- nay- natural, for a photo page or 2 to be included. Publishers also know that photos will help the sales of a book. Atria is a division of Simon & Schuster($$) I happened to speak to someone who was once an editor for one of the houses, & he said it's pretty much unheard of to nix photos in a book such as "Petal Pusher".

[scoOter]

no picture in book?