The Rock Snob's Dictionary: An Essential Lexicon of Rockological Knowledge - Softcover

At last! An A-to-Z reference guide for readers who want to learn the cryptic language of Rock Snobs, those arcana-obsessed people who speak of "Rickenbacker guitars" and "Gram Parsons."

We've all been there--trapped in a conversation with smarty-pants music fiends who natter on about "the MC5" or "Eno" or "the Hammond B3," not wanting to let on that we haven't the slightest idea what they're talking about. Well, fret no more!The Rock Snob's Dictionary is here to define every single sacred totem of rock fandom's know-it-all fraternity, from Alt.country to Zimmy. (That's what Rock Snobs call Bob Dylan, by the way.)

We’ve all been there–trapped in a conversation with smarty-pants music fiends who natter on about “the MC5” or “Eno” or “the Hammond B3,” not wanting to let on that we haven’t the slightest idea what they’re talking about. Well, fret no more! The Rock Snob*s Dictionary is here to define every single sacred totem of rock fandom’s know-it-all fraternity, from Alt.country to Zimmy. (That’s what Rock Snobs call Bob Dylan, by the way.)

The Rock Snob*s Dictionary is the brainchild of Vanity Fair writers David Kamp and Steven Daly, who originally devised it as a short feature in the magazine’s music issue. The response was so great (and grateful) that the feature became a running series, and now it’s been expanded into a book that features new material and indispensable supplements, such as the “Guide to Snob Nomenclature” (e.g., the Velvet Underground’s drummer is to be referred to as Mo Tucker, never Maureen).  Ross MacDonald’s clever illustrations offer further elucidation, so even novice Snobs will be able to identify a Neumann U47 microphone or the hirsute face of the ubiquitous session guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter.

The Rock Snob*s Dictionary is as funny as it is informative, for it does something that no previous rock reference has dared to do: not take rock fandom so darned seriously. Whether you laughed at Jack Black’s overamped characters in School of Rock or sheepishly recognized yourself in High Fidelity, you’ll treasure this book.