BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE

Burning Down the House: Talking Heads and the New York Scene that Transformed Rock by Jonathan Gould, 512 pgs. © 2025

Is it art? Is it music? For the Talking Heads it's probably both. This is a great book for music lovers. Probably the definitive book for the band but also a nice dive into the late 70's New York art scene and how influential it was for musicians trying to escape the old ways of traditional rock and roll, which was starting to become so bland that it was sometimes referred to as 'conservative' rock and roll. I live for this kind of nonfiction--it's well written organized, packed with great research. You come away with a greater understanding of how tight-knit the NY art community was and how this band come out of nowhere to carve their own unique niche in the new wave landscape. Gould did very well in this endeavor, even without interviewing anyone in the group today. Gave me a greater appreciate of Stop Making Sense, one of the greatest live concert docs of all time. 

Relish

 Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley, 173 pages.

Lucy Knisley was taught a deep appreciation for food from her earliest days, and this means she charts the course of her life in terms of food; what she was cooking and eating, forbidden foods, beloved foods, any foods where connection grew up. As the daughter of a professional chef and intense gourmet she had plenty of exposure to high quality foods, but just as many of the foods that made an impression were things like Mexican candy and the type of terrible culinary inventions that I think most people who have been to college are familiar with.

The blurb on this book was from Alison Bechdel, which feels appropriate because, despite the very different tone and subject matter, this book felt oddly reminiscent of Fun Home. I think it was the Knisley managed to write a biography that felt like it captured a child's perspective while retaining an adult's benefit of experience. I found this graphic memoir masterfully done, and the illustrated recipes at the end of each chapter felt like the cherry on top. This memoir feels like more than the sum of its parts, and I highly recommend it.