In talking to Molly Backes for this week’s Sunday Interview, Megan Stielstra mentions that she wants her readers to put down her book while reading in order to think, act, or write about the ideas being discussed. Her strategy sure worked on me. Before I got Once I Was Cool, I read an excerpt online that discusses Jane’s Addiction’s “Summertime Love” and ends with this command: “Stop reading and listen.” I obeyed. And I didn’t leave it at “Summertime Love,” an old favorite I’d only ever owned on long-gone vinyl. I downloaded Nothing’s Shocking and listened to it every time I had a chance for weeks. And then I did something else that’s part of Megan’s design: I wrote about the memories the music brought up for me in an essay for The Weeklings. I couldn’t agree more with her that reading good writing is the best inspiration for writing oneself.
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