the finalist for georgia author of the year, essay category
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"Straight into Darkness is a music historian and pop culture aficionado’s dream--a deeply visceral, exhaustive, and eloquent appreciation for one of the greatest contemporary musicians of our time, Tom Petty. Volpert meticulously traces Petty’s quest for originality and autonomy throughout his decades-long career. Petty was a gifted musician who thought outside of the box and challenged conventional norms. And Volpert is a gifted critic, whose tribute makes for an illustrious addition to the genre of music criticism."
- Anjali Enjeti, judge for the Essay category |
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listen to the introduction on soundcloud here.
Listen to the KSLU FM rock school interview here.
MINIVER PRESS, 2018
if you like:
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Petty obsessive Megan Volpert goes deep under the hood in Straight Into Darkness, a detailed and literate analysis and examination, never pedantic or arcane, but somehow open, accessible, witty and attractive – like the music of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, which you will never hear in the same way again.
-Joel Selvin, author of Altamont From deconstructing chord charts, to charting the progress of his heartland mega-hits, Megan Volpert has set out to fill the Gibson-shaped hole in the hearts of Tom Pettyologists everywhere with this deep dive into America's most understated guitar rock icon. -Alina Simone, author of Madonnaland Tom Petty was one of the great American songwriters whose work deserves to be broken down and examined thoughtfully and with the same passion he delivered every lyric with. Megan Volpert has done just that and more, mixing just the right amount of academic rigor and total Petty obsessive in this illuminating book. -Jason Diamond, author of Searching for John Hughes Wow, this is a fascinating read! Nothing takes a look at Petty's songwriting like this. It’s refreshing. Long After Dark happens to be one of my favorites, maybe because it’s the only CD in my car. But it just kind of needles away at a listener and Volpert brings to life the subconscious questions we have through her deep dissection and analysis. Straight Into Darkness is truly thought-provoking, super well-written and unlike any regular biography. It’s going to take me at least ten more reads to wrap my head around it all. But that will be a joy. If you're a real Petty fan, this is a required book. -Jason Hedges, frontman for Heavy Petty Gainesville |
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Of all the Heartbreakers tracks available to come through her headphones as Megan Volpert stood over train tracks preparing to surrender to the psychedelic blindness of simple human misery, “Straight Into Darkness” is the one that did. In this highly philosophical and deeply personal exploration of one obscure Tom Petty song, Volpert’s essays comb through the musical, historical, rhetorical and sociological implications of a forgotten gem in a legendary catalog with satisfying results.
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In the face of powerlessness, we rebel anyway. She judges the forty years of Petty’s career with one finger on the pulse of Bob Dylan and an occasional whiff of Bruce Springsteen, looking at the sometimes violent mob scene of concerts as a type of transcendence. Straight Into Darkness offers a compelling vision of rock and roll fandom where the songwriter’s hardworking sense of humor is enough to save us from absurdity. All you need is Albert Camus and a couple of chords. Long after dark, Petty and Volpert each emerge as modern mystics.
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