Customer Reviews

Radio On: A Listener's Diary

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

"Grouchy" seems to be what a lot of people thought about "Radio On", and there is certainly some of that, and some whining, too. And, I would have liked the book more, I suppose, if Nirvana had meant as much to me as, say, the Clash. But anyone who has ever thought that music is important to them, and who has had the radio as a lifeline to that important thing in their life, will enjoy and understand this book. Ms. Vowell never really defines her project, which was apparently to diary her reflections on American culture by responding to what she hears on the radio, but she does spend a fair amount of time complaining about it. Her complaining is entertaining, however, and witty, which will not surprise anyone who has heard her essays on "This American Life". Sometimes her criticisms did not seem quite fair-- Bob Edwards is not the anti-Rush, and it is a little unrealistic to expect him to be. (Maybe Andrei Codrescu is the anti-Rush). I guess I liked the politics of the thing, and the fact that she really loves and cares about radio. I've been trying to read as much as I can get my hands on about radio this year, and it seems to be a difficult medium to write about (in contrast to film, say). Most good writing about radio ends up being about something else, and it is the something else that I liked about "Radio On". I would recommend it to anyone who cares about radio, or who thinks about American culture.

I have read all four of Sarah Vowell's books. I believe that is all of them. I thoroughly enjoyed three of them and would strongly recommend them. With for Radio On, her first book, she seems to be in a different place. Radio On is a diary of Sarah listening to the radio. Although the concept is interesting, the result is a lot of very short entries in which there is little opportunity to develop anything. But the real reason I didn't like Radio On is because of Sarah's perspective at that time. She is a very critical person in this book. Nirvana is the greatest band ever, and The Grateful Dead is worthless. Whether it is music, politics, or a variety of other topics, you get the clear impression that her opinion is right and any others are wrong. Radio On is a very mean and negative view of life and our world. The worst case scenario, though, is someone reads Radio On first and doesn't read Sarah Vowell's other books. That would be huge mistake.

I got this book because I really love Sarah's essays on the NPR program This American Life. Those are (largely) collected in her book "Take the Cannoli : (Stories from the New World)." If you too have come to Sarah Vowell via This American Life, I must emphasize: "Radio On" is very likely going to disappoint you.

The idea for this book is a fantastic one. She keeps a diary largely centered around what the radio is playing at any given time. She sprinkles in liberal doses of real life, thoughts and musings. Unfortunately she seems to view many subjects through a haughty lens of her life as a microcosm of general culture...which it ain't.

Sarah has a dismaying habit of aggrandizing or belittling whole swaths of art and entertainment. Nirvanna? Fantastic. The Grateful Dead? Boring noodling. NPR? May have once had a golden age, now worthless garbage. Frequently, she casually dismisses a topic/music style/belief/person as worthless, not worth a thought, and then later rants on and on in defense of her opinion. There seems to be no middle ground: something that deserves a gentle ribbing is utterly skewered, something that deserves light praise is idolized. When she does hear something she deems worthy on NPR, she is quick to turn the radio off before it's spoiled by "snooty diction". Much the same could be said of Radio On: a great idea plus the occasional fabulous insight, spoiled in the presentation by Vowell's "snooty diction."

I saw Sarah on David Letterman in support of her much better book Take The Canoli. There was a point where she said something pretty funny and the audience laughed and laughed. As they laughed, she became obviously scornful, as if they had violated some imagined etiquette by thinking she was THAT funny, that they dared interrupt the flow of her coversation with their intrusive laughter. That kind of smugness, that kind of near mean-spiritedness, pervades this book. It renders it almost entirely unreadable.

...you don't listen to NPR, and radio isn't a central part of your life. I probably got more out of this book than some people, because I listened to some of the stations referenced in it (KITS in SF, for example). Sarah Vowell's critiques of modern American culture and of radio are DEAD ON. Like I said, some of the jokes in there are pretty specific to NPR listeners (like her comment about Talk of the Nation), but a lot of it is just growing up Generation X in America. If you're a Gen X NPR listener, this is worth every penny.

Being a great fan of Sarah Vowell's, I have read all of her books. "Radio On" is my least favorite. However, it is her first book, so I cut her some slack for that. It is interesting enough to get through without a struggle, but it does not leave you wanting more, the way her other books do. The book has an interesting premise (it's basically her journal of one year of radio listening), but the format quickly becomes tiring. It makes you think that you could write a book, too. You can tell how young Vowell was when she wrote this, and while I too was a Nirvana fan in the mid-90's, her obsession with the band and Kurt Cobain in particular is distracting and does not add anything to the book. The book seems all the more dated in this era of satellite radio & podcasts. We no longer have to listen to bad radio, and you don't need to read a book about it. Skip this one and buy "Assassination Vacation" instead - Vowell's writing is much wittier and you get a history lesson as a bonus!

When this book was written, I was in my Junior year in high school, unfortunately I didn't read it until later in life. Reading it though took me wayyyy back to those days and myself as a teenager listening to the radio. I grew up in Chicago, so most of the "journaling" was very reminiscent of those days because most of her entries are while she was living in the Windy City.

If you're a big radio fan like I am, then you'll really love this book. If you're not or can't handle her opinions, then don't read it, or just read it and say you didn't!

I like Sarah Vowell. I've enjoyed her pieces on 'This American Life', read her other books, and even saw her at a live reading when she came to town. I didn't like this book though, and here, I guess, is where book ratings can become pretty arbitrary. It wasn't some glaring deficiency of prose style or structure that tipped me over the edge. It's just that, ultimately, she's whiny (her own criticism of Alanis Morissette coming dangerously close to home). This is a book where nothing is safe. And if you're an individual that thinks that you have been deeply wronged by the world, most likely because it doesn't kowtow to your every quirky interest, leading you to cope by saying 'everything sucks' and elevating Nirvana and Hole to demigod status, then this book is for you!

It wasn't long into the book before I realized I'd be enduring it, rather than enjoying it. So why did I continue? Perhaps the same reason that people slow down when passing the scene of an accident: macabre fascination. Anytime something was on the radio that didn't resemble guitars screeching the self-obsessed angst of middle-class white urbanites, she is ready and waiting to attack it. 'Morning Edition' or 'All Things Considered': snooty and self-aware, *boring*. Marian McPartland's 'Piano Jazz': boring, 'plink, plink, chord; plink, plink, chord'. Garrison Keillor of 'A Prarie Home Companion': 'hate every breath he draws'. And those are the relative safe-havens among the liberal, faux-intellectual crowd she inhabits. Imagine her temperate and reasonable reactions to conservative talk radio!

Granted, she was 25 when she wrote this, and probably angry because she had been teased in high school. It's apparent that time (and subsequent wealth, no doubt) have mellowed her. Perhaps she has recognized that Cobain really didn't have any answers, and life is turning out better with some perspective gained, and she's no longer as transfixed or amused by the regular chaos in Courtney Love's mess of a life. Whatever it is, you're much better off reading 'The Partly Cloudy Patriot' than this.

Here's the long and short of it: Sarah Vowell is a whiney bore, a genius of the obvious who makes it very easy for folks to make fun of the entire NPR culture.

People seem to be put off that Sarah Vowell is willing to put herself out there and nail some of the sacred cows of radio, especially public radio. But her critical powers and observations are astute and powerful. Her narrative voice is unusually fresh. I could listen to her babble on about anything.

Once again, Sarah Vowell delivers the rare combination of definitive research and ironic insights, and I am impatient for her next piece.