Donald Riggio

Let me start by saying I enjoyed Donald Riggio's "Seven-Inch Vinyl, A Rock and Roll Novel." Though the setting begins about a decade before I discovered rock, and it took place largely in New York rather than my home state of New Jersey, I easily identified with the vibe. Many of the characters were types, but they were types familiar to me. I listened to some of the radio stations and music personalities he mentions. I felt the genuineness of the ethnic neighborhoods that mirrored those I knew in my youth. I enjoyed the literary conceit of inventing characters like Teddy Boyette, whose background, musical growth, and demise echoed both Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly, while including both of these legends within the book; and, apparently, the black girl-group, the Pixies, was an analogue to the Supremes, even while including the Supremes themselves within the groups that occupy Riggio's musical universe. And, I enjoyed the story of Joe Rabinowitz, who saw the future of rock and roll, built his future on the early sounds of doo-wop, R&B, and country, but lost it when he failed to realize the significance of the British invasion of the '60s.

But the book has more than its share of problems. Chief among them is sloppy editing and, apparently, an over-reliance on a computer spell checker. Riggio confuses the word "past" and "passed"; commas are used when they should not be, and not used when they should; words are capitalized willy-nilly; and I nearly fell out of my chair when he describes Tom Jones as a "torch singer from the country of Whales." That's Wales, Don.

Studies have shown that American students have only modest awareness of their country's history. When I was in high school, we didn't get past World War II. While Riggio's characters are naturally subject to the history and technology of their times (dealing with the Payola scandal; discussing the 1960 presidential election; suffering through the Kennedy assassinations; trying to avoid the draft for Vietnam and dealing with the aftermath of military service), there is too much historical and technical exposition. Was it necessary to talk about the technology, invention, and social implications of the eight-track tape? Do we need the historical backgrounds of the Cuban missile crisis, America's involvement in Vietnam, and the 1968 Chicago riots? These passages, which go on for several pages each, seem like padding.

But, it's a nice story, and the characters have the appropriate human strengths and frailties. Some simple fixes could make it a better book and garner another star in the ratings.… (meer)