Acknowledgements

 

Thank you to Tim Kinsella for having such faith and enthusiasm in this book. Thank you to my husband Matthew Hale Clark for helping edit this book and encouraging me to write full time. Thank you to my mom Susie Eaton Hopper for gentle editorial advice and being a model of what a working mom looks like and to my dads for being cool dads and encouraging me to do what I wanted; Steve and Louise Clark for childcare. Thank you to Jude and William for taking such long naps so I could work on these pieces and being the light of my life. This book wouldn’t ever have gotten finished if it weren’t for Jeanine O’Toole, America’s Coolest Babysitter. Props to my agent, Tina Wexler at ICM, for her stewardship, and Dana Meyerson and Kathryn Frazier at Biz3 for their hard work.

Many of these pieces would have never been written were it not for my editors at the Chicago Reader—Kiki Yablon, Philip Montoro and Alison True—who fostered me, and gave me many hours of their time so that I might learn how to write. My Reader colleagues David Wilcox, Miles Raymer, Liz Armstrong, Anaheed Alani and Leor Galil for being sounding boards as well. A debt of gratitude to Charles Aaron for taking a chance on me back in those fanzine days, and being the guiding light on many of the SPIN pieces included here, as well as Rob Harvilla, Steve Kandell and Christopher Weingarten who gave me assignments there and elsewhere. Maura Johnston, Robert Christgau and Brian McManus for Pazz & Jop opps, and Brian especially for saying yes to an R. Kelly piece that no one else wanted to touch, and to Brittany Spanos at the Voice and Andrew Gill at WBEZ for crucial support on that piece.

Respect is due to the editorial handiwork of the following: Daniel Sinker at Punk Planet, Ezra Ace Caraeff at Portland Mercury, Steve Haruch at Nashville Scene, Melissa Maerz at City Pages, Randall Roberts at LA Weekly, Cassie Walker at Chicago Magazine, Phoebe Connelly at The American Prospect, Julianne Escobedo Shepherd at Hit It or Quit It and for talking out ideas that appear in many of the early pieces included here. Special recognition to Kevin Williams at the Chicago Tribune for being cool in spite of the fact that I blew deadline every week while working on this book.

The insight of my sister Lauren Redding and the rest of the ‘list powered this book: Danielle Henderson, Estelle Tang, Lena Singer, Tavi Gevinson, Amy Rose Spiegel, Gabby Noone, Megan Fredette, Anna Fitzpatrick, JES, Hazel Cills, Arabelle Sicardi, Lola Pellegrino, Emma Straub, Marie Lodi, Jenny Zhang, Stephanie Kuehnert Lewis, Suzy X., Laia Garcia, Brodie Lancaster, Monika Zaleska, Gabi Gregg, Beth Hoeckel, Rose Lichter-Marck, Krista Burton, Naomi Morris, Dylan Tupper Rupert, Pixie Casey, Jamia Wilson, Sandy Honig, Cat Donohue, Tyler Ford, and Maja Demska. How anyone writes a book without a Rookie cheerleading crew, I do not know.

A debt of gratitude to my best friend JR Nelson for being DFW for the last 15-ish years, for helping me figure out ideas, filling in my knowledge gaps and accompanying me to almost every show mentioned in this book. Cindy Duckworth for superhuman feats of transcription. James Yates and Yung David Turner for research assistance. Aside from being my friends, the following people helped me dig deeper over the years, and to think harder on pieces included here: Nora Brank, Kate Rose, Morgan Thoryk, David Schied, Michael Catano, Jane Marie, Cali Thornhill DeWitt, Ben Fasman, David Dark, David Bazan, Kevin “Whatever, Kevin” Erickson, Al Burian, Joan Hiller, Sean Daley, Becky Smith, Josh Hooten, Kelly Nothing, Robin and Ian Harris, Marianna Ritchey, Joe Gross, Miles Raymer, Teeter Sperber, and all my colleagues and peers who challenged and inspired me. Thanks to Rob Sheffield, Sara Quin, Teenboss, and Carl Wilson for their acts of generosity. Michael Renaud, David Sampson, Jason Sommer and Zach Dodson for their efforts in making this book come true.