Best Selling Books by Ben Greenman

This is the book only Questlove could write: a singular history of fifty years of this global phenomenon.Over the last year, hip-hop has been celebrating its monumental half-century anniversary: fifty years. Initially written off as a fad by the mainstream, hip-hop has proven to have staying power and lasting influence, redefining nearly every cultural sector, from fashion to film to TV. In this landmark book, Questlove, the Grammy and Oscar winner and New York Times bestselling multi-hyphenate cultural icon, skillfully traces the convergence of creative and cultural forces that shaped hip-hop since its inception, and how the genre has evolved up to the present moment.Questlove began his journey in hip-hop as a fan. A superfan, in fact. He has an encyclopedic understanding of the genre and of the shifts and redirections that altered its trajectory. He is part of that trajectory, as the drummer and cofounder of the Roots. Hip-hop is history and also his history.In this book, Questlove proposes a theory of evolution, arguing that every five years, something at or near the center of the genre changes. Sometimes it''s lyrical perspective. Sometimes it''s location. Sometimes it''s technology. To illustrate his theory, Questlove selects songs and artists that exemplify these changes.Hip-Hop Is History is a book only Questlove could have written, and it showcases his comprehensive knowledge of and unparalleled access to the inner workings of the past fifty years of this global phenomenon.

Named one of the best music books of 2017 by The Wall Street Journal A unique and kaleidoscopic look into the life, legacy, and electricity of the pop legend Prince and his wideranging impact on our culture Ben Greenman, New York Times bestselling author, contributing writer to the New Yorker, and owner of thousands of recordings of Prince and Prince-related songs, knows intimately that there has never been a rock star as vibrant, mercurial, willfully contrary, experimental, or prolific as Prince. Uniting a diverse audience while remaining singularly himself, Prince was a tireless artist, a musical virtuoso and chameleon, and a pop-culture prophet who shattered traditional ideas of race and gender, rewrote the rules of identity, and redefined the role of sex in pop music. A polymath in his own right who collaborated with George Clinton and Questlove on their celebrated memoirs, Greenman has been listening to and writing about Prince since the mid-eighties. Here, with the passion of an obsessive fan and the skills of a critic, journalist, and novelist, he mines his encyclopedic knowledge of Prince’s music to tell both his story and the story of the paradigm-shifting ideas that he communicated to his millions of fans around the world. Greenman''s take on Prince is the autobiography of a generation and its ideas. Asking a series of questions—not only “Who was Prince?” but “Who wasn’t he?” and “Who are we?”—Dig if You Will the Picture is a fitting tribute to an extraordinary talent.

“Ben Greenman seems incapable of writing anything dry or familiar or expected. He is one of the most versatile, consistently surprising writers at work today.” —Dave Eggers A diverse and moving collection of witty, fabular, haunting stories about love, infidelity, and the vanishing art of letter writing—from the acclaimed novelist and New Yorker editor Ben Greenman. Fans of the works of Keith Gessen, Ben Kunkel, Nathaniel Rich, and John Wray will find much to love in the beautiful, poignant stories of What He’s Poised to Do.

Traces the funk music legend''s rise from a 1950s barbershop quartet to an influential multigenre artist, discussing his pivotal artistic and business achievements with "Parliament-Funkadelic.".

What songs have made up your life''s soundtrack? Which have captured your every mood and deepest sentiments? Pop music, like no other form of entertainment or art, is capable of articulating our feelings, desires, joy, and pain. In a few soul-grabbing minutes, artists from every genre--from Little Richard to Lou Reed, Willie Nelson to Wu-Tang Clan, Sly and the Family Stone to the Rolling Stones--can help us understand our place in our own lives. This collection of short, sharp essays by New York Times bestselling author Ben Greenman (Mo'' Meta Blues), organized around a thematic playlist of songs, serves as a reminder of the lyrical power of songwriting and the sonic ability of pop to capture the human experience. Greenman''s wit, insight, and honesty are as sweet and satisfying as the hits (and the deep cuts) at the center of each essay.

"You have to bear in mind that [Questlove] is one of the smartest motherf*****s on the planet. His musical knowledge, for all practical purposes, is limitless." --Robert Christgau A punch-drunk memoir in which Everyone''s Favorite Questlove tells his own story while tackling some of the lates, the greats, the fakes, the philosophers, the heavyweights, and the true originals of the music world. He digs deep into the album cuts of his life and unearths some pivotal moments in black art, hip hop, and pop culture. Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson is many things: virtuoso drummer, producer, arranger, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon bandleader, DJ, composer, and tireless Tweeter. He is one of our most ubiquitous cultural tastemakers, and in this, his first book, he reveals his own formative experiences--from growing up in 1970s West Philly as the son of a 1950s doo-wop singer, to finding his own way through the music world and ultimately co-founding and rising up with the Roots, a.k.a., the last hip hop band on Earth. Mo'' Meta Blues also has some (many) random (or not) musings about the state of hip hop, the state of music criticism, the state of statements, as well as a plethora of run-ins with celebrities, idols, and fellow artists, from Stevie Wonder to KISS to D''Angelo to Jay-Z to Dave Chappelle to...you ever seen Prince roller-skate?!? But Mo'' Meta Blues isn''t just a memoir. It''s a dialogue about the nature of memory and the idea of a post-modern black man saddled with some post-modern blues. It''s a book that questions what a book like Mo'' Meta Bluesreally is. It''s the side wind of a one-of-a-kind mind. It''s a rare gift that gives as well as takes. It''s a record that keeps going around and around.

A moving, compelling memoir about growing up and escaping the tragic legacy of mental illness, suicide, addiction, and depression in one of America’s most famous families: the Hemingways. She opens her eyes. The room is dark. She hears yelling, smashed plates, and wishes it was all a terrible dream. But it isn’t. This is what it was like growing up as a Hemingway. In this deeply moving, searingly honest new memoir, actress and mental health icon Mariel Hemingway shares in candid detail the story of her troubled childhood in a famous family haunted by depression, alcoholism, illness, and suicide. Born just a few months after her grandfather, Ernest Hemingway, shot himself, it was Mariel’s mission as a girl to escape the desperate cycles of severe mental health issues that had plagued generations of her family. Surrounded by a family tortured by alcoholism (both parents), depression (her sister Margaux), suicide (her grandfather and four other members of her family), schizophrenia (her sister Muffet), and cancer (mother), it was all the young Mariel could do to keep her head. In a compassionate voice she reveals her painful struggle to stay sane as the youngest child in her family, and how she coped with the chaos by becoming OCD and obsessive about her food, schedule, and organization. The twisted legacy of her family has never quite let go of Mariel, but now in this memoir she opens up about her claustrophobic marriage, her acting career, and turning to spiritual healers and charlatans for solace. Ultimately Mariel has written a story of triumph about learning to overcome her family’s demons and developing love and deep compassion for them. At last, in this memoir she can finally tell the true story of the tragedies and troubles of the Hemingway family, and she delivers a book that beckons comparisons to Mary Karr and Jeanette Walls.

The Slippage is a wry, wistful tale of marriage, lust, and disconnection from Ben Greenman, the critically acclaimed author of What He’s Poised to Do. William Day must confront some uncomfortable truths about his life and his future when his wife Louisa asks him to build her house. The take-it-or-leave-it demand becomes all the more difficult to swallow when he finds himself grappling with a past recklessness, an ex-girlfirend’s son he considers his own, and his own wants for what lies ahead. Sure to appeal to everyone who has ever been in love and had their heart broken, The Slippage shares uncanny truths about intimacy and modern relationships.

A Circle is a Balloon and Compass Both is a collection of stories about love, the most elusive and problematic of all phenomena. With a mix of traditional, literary prose and bold–some might even say irresponsible–experimentation, Ben Greenman explores the ins and outs of modern romance. Expect tears, nudity, and recrimination. From the half-hearted summer affair between a part-time bartender and a married doctor in a Miami hotel to the cryptic pseudo-erotic love letters to a friend who is “more than a friend,” we experience the love of pop songs, the love of cohabitation in Chicago, and love that is so transporting it takes us to the moon–literally. “Like Green Day did for punk rock, and The Matrix for kung-fu flicks, this new collection from New Yorker editor Greenman could well become an advocate for the short story with those who haven’t been interested in the form. Amusing, palatable . . . it’s precisely the sort of thing that can gain a new audience for a genre.” Time Out Chicago “A smart, tightly structured collection . . . playful, wryly comical.” The Brooklyn Rail “Seriously funny.” San Francisco Chronicle “Wildly inventive, sometimes surreal, but tenderly told, these stories give a glimpse of what Phillip K. Dick might have written if he’d allowed himself a sincere broken heart.” Paste Magazine

What is it like to be a teen with depressed addicts for parents, a mentally ill sister, and a grandfather who killed himself? In this moving, compelling diary, Mariel Hemingway writes as her teen self to share her pain, heartache, and coping strategies with young readers. “I open my eyes. The room is dark. I hear yelling, smashed plates, and wish it was all a terrible dream.” Welcome to Mariel Hemingway’s intimate diary of her years as a girl and teen. In this deeply moving, searingly honest young adult memoir, actress and mental health icon Mariel Hemingway shares in candid detail the story of her troubled childhood in a famous family haunted by depression, alcoholism, mental illness, and suicide. Born just a few months after her grandfather, Ernest Hemingway, shot himself, Mariel’s mission as a girl was to escape the desperate cycles of debilitating mental health that had plagued generations of her family. In a voice that speaks to young readers everywhere, she recounts her childhood growing up in a family tortured by alcoholism (both parents), depression (her sister Margaux), suicide (her grandfather and four other members of her family), schizophrenia (her sister Muffet), and cancer (mother). It was all the young Mariel could do to keep her head. She reveals her painful struggle to stay sane as the youngest child in her family, and how she coped with the chaos by becoming OCD and obsessive about her food. Young readers who are sharing a similar painful childhood will see their lives and questions reflected on the pages of her diary—and they may even be inspired to start their own diary to channel their pain. Her voice will speak directly to teens across the world and tell them there is light at the end of the tunnel. • A hugely important subject for millions (around 10% of Americans suffer from depression) of young adults who are perhaps growing up in families with mental illness, suicide, depression, schizophrenia, alcoholism, and depression, or who themselves suffer from it. • Very few memoirs speak directly to YA readers about mental illness, depression, and what it is like growing up in a troubled family. • Mariel Hemingway speaks honestly about her own experiences with depression, eating disorders, and OCD, and how she learned to overcome these issues.

Stories by J. Robert Lennon, Kevin Brockmeier, Lynne Tillman, Carson Mell, and Ben Greenman.

New Yorker editor and McSweeney''s contributor Ben Greenman reshapes Russian literature''s most celebrated stories around America''s most popular pop culture icons, probing the deep complexities of Anton Chekov (not to mention those of Cruise or Kardashian). Thought-provoking and funny, these wryly re-imagined tales will be sure-fire favorites for every kind of reader, whether your favorite escapes are celebrity memoirs like L.A. Candy and The Truth about Diamonds, re-conceived classics like Wicked, literary parodies like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, or masterpieces of fiction from authors like Tolstoy, Pushkin and Chekhov himself.

A swirling 1960s saga of the rise and fall of a true American icon. Rock Foxx is a rock star. But he is not just any rock star - Rock is an outrageous showman whose unprecedented mixed-race, mixed-gender band creates a new, socially conscious kind of music. Then, at the height of his fame, Rock suddenly disappears. In the hands of New Yorker editor Ben Greenman, this pseudo-bio of a fascinating character becomes both highly literary and immensely entertaining, a tale about rock''n''roll and about a complicated but key moment in American history.

The original hardcover "Superbad" was a collection of two dozen pieces ranging from postmodern satire to more serious fiction. The lot of it has been remixed--much like popular music--and reprinted in trade paper, the result a challenging novel with a clear set of themes and characters, tightly constructed and intricately interwoven.

Ben Greenman''s raucous new collection of stories and pieces ranges from the traditional to the impossible, from the Italian to the Russian, from the musical to the minimal. Greenman constructs layer upon layer of artifice, filling the spaces between with thousands of smooth, brown pellets of insight and humor. An editor at the New Yorker and a frequent contributor to McSweeney''s , Greenman seamlessly assimilates Borges, Bartheleme, Chekhov and Calvino, developing asensibility at once wholly contemporary and tenderly reminiscent.

Discusses on-line sports information sources for many sports