Friends of Mine: Thirty Years in the Life of a Duran Duran Fan by Elisa Lorello

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book was offered for review on Book Blogger

  The books description intrigued me; a grown up, a professor, a novelist discusses her love for a Pop Band.  I have been a fan of certain bands. and have always been a viewer and never a performer.  My brother Andy listened to Duran Duran and his musical world exploded.   He has gone on to be a musician featured on the cover of a notable San Francisco paper.   I desired to be a crafted musician, but no matter the amount of practice; I was unable to get my heart into it.   I found that my role was to celebrate the music of the band.

     Elissa Lorello's book is like a keen chaperon of the 20th century Pop Music Museum. The book provided balance between context (private and historical),  and the music of Duran Duran.
  I had a couple questions I wanted answered before beginning this book. What is the purpose of music? How does music mark the depths of history? How do bands create clarity in our lives? How does popular music create clarity in a world turned chaotic? What is "fan club glee", or why be a fan of a bunch of dreamy musicians?  Other writers would have been more heavy handed in one of these areas.  The heavy handedness would leave us scratching our heads and asking, "so what?"  However, Lorello does a balance review of her life and its intersections with Duran Duran. Friends of Mine: Thirty Years in the Life of a Duran Duran Fan,  is a well crafted answer to the role of music in an unstable world. 



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