Play It Loud

It may not be a world-changing work of literature, but this is the best damn book about the electric guitar that I have come across. I agree with other reviewers that more emphasis should have been given to female contributors to the art form; in their quest to streamline this immense history into a digestible narrative, Tolinski and di Perna engage in a fair bit of typical “hero worship” with the typical male “heroes.” Nevertheless, I am not aware of any other book that explains the development of this instrument, from its inception to the present day, as well as this one. I am personally not a big rock music fan, but Tolinski and di Perna manage to make those parts of the history engaging even for someone like me. If you love the electric guitar in any way, you will not be disappointed with this volume. The Charlie Christian chapter in particular was excellent. (For me, Carlos Santana's foreword did not add anything of value to the work, but neither did it detract from its quality.)