May 26th6:30pm
If you grew up with your walls plastered in posters of your favorite bands, scribbled lyrics all over your notebooks, and carried around a clunky CD player, we're guessing the next time your favorite band rolls into town, you may have a growing concern about the arch support your Vans will give and whether you’ll be home by 11pm. Well, dust off those Vans and join our book club featuring music-centric pieces spanning rock n roll, punk rock, and alternative movements. Don’t mistake us for another forgotten band from 2008, instead The TBR Stacks is actually just AJ and Daniel joining forces to revel in the history and stories of the music we grew up with all while checking another book off the to be read list.
This month we'll discuss singer-songwriter Neko Case's vivid portrait of an extraordinary life—one forged through a poverty-stricken childhood, obsessive desire, bursts of comedy, and indispensable friendships—reflecting on the way art, music, and a deep connection to nature helped her become a beloved, Grammy-nominated artist, The Harder I Fight the More I Love You: A Memoir.
"The gift of Neko Case as a memoirist mirrors the gift of Neko Case as a songwriter: there is a warmth of clarity, of language selection, of narrative flourish. This book reads, and feels, as if you are on a porch with an old friend, telling you stories you've heard a hundred times, but cannot wait to hear once more."—Hanif Abdurraqib, author of #1 National Bestseller There's Always This Year
“Reader, I really want to hand this book to you personally and tell you, in one excited rush, how much it moved me. THE HARDER I FIGHT THE MORE I LOVE YOU is a hell of an origin story: heartbreaking and funny, brave and weird, hard to swallow and impossible to put down. Neko Case has been my favorite singer-songwriter for many years, hands down, and now she’s written one of my favorite memoirs.” —Maggie Smith, New York Times bestselling author of You Could Make This Place Beautiful
Neko Case has long been revered as one of music’s most influential artists, whose authenticity, lyrical storytelling, and sly wit have endeared her to a legion of critics, musicians, and lifelong fans. In THE HARDER I FIGHT THE MORE I LOVE YOU, Case brings her trademark candor and precision to a memoir that traces her evolution from an invisible girl “raised by two dogs and a space heater” in rural Washington state to her improbable emergence as an internationally-acclaimed talent.
In luminous, sharp-edged prose, Case shows readers what it’s like to be left alone for hours and hours as a child, to take refuge in the woods around her home, and to channel the monotony and loneliness and joy that comes from music, camaraderie, and shared experience into art.
THE HARDER I FIGHT THE MORE I LOVE YOU is a rebellious meditation on identity and corruption, and a manifesto on how to make space for ourselves in this world, despite the obstacles we face.
Contact Genay, at bookclubs@mcnallyjackson.com with any questions.
Reserve your place with a $5 voucher, redeemable on the night of the book club meeting on any product in store.