Enjoyable writing and real insight power this fascinating look at a band that went their own way.
A look at the classic rock album that has captured the imaginations of both boomers and Zoomers.
Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours hit record store shelves in 1977, and we’re all still talking about it nearly 50 years later. There are a lot of reasons for that, Light argues in his latest musical biography, in which he seeks to explain its enduring appeal: “This album has made it into every corner of our consciousness, and its influence extends to rockers, singer-songwriters, pop stars, and rappers, but beyond that to young people of all backgrounds figuring out how to navigate their own lives and relationships.” Light is particularly interested in why Rumours continues to resonate with young people, and he interviews twentysomething-year-old listeners who have discovered “this old-ass album” thanks to friends, TV shows, and TikTok—namely the now-famous clip of Nathan Apodaca, on his skateboard, lip-syncing “Dreams” while drinking from a bottle of Ocean Spray Cran-Raspberry juice. The author considers the drama surrounding the album, recorded during a period of the band members’ cheating and breakups and liberal drug use, but that does not impress all younger people; one of them says, “I don’t care—just play the fucking song.” Light goes track by track in the book, dedicating a chapter to each of its songs, including “Silver Springs,” which was not on the original record but is on some reissues (“the song that creates Schrödinger’s Rumours,” as the author puts it). It’s hard to argue with Light’s conclusions that “it was something that kids found and liked because other kids found and liked it,” and that “whatever you go to Rumours looking for, it is there to be found. It is open to all.” Light’s tone is light and breezy, but it’s clear that he’s put much thought into this informative book. It’s a lot of fun.
Enjoyable writing and real insight power this fascinating look at a band that went their own way.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781668054376
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Aug. 14, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
A football star’s bracing account of his battle for racial equality—and how powerful forces arrayed against him.
A principled athlete strives for social justice.
Kaepernick forthrightly details the activism that earned him global renown but cost him his NFL career. In 2016, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback “was filled with disgust” after police shootings of fellow Black men in several American cities. Before a preseason game, he made a spontaneous decision: “It hit me in that moment that I should find a seat” during the national anthem. He did the same at two more games before reporters noticed. Kaepernick will forever be associated with “taking a knee” during the anthem, but he credits Eric Reid—a teammate who agreed with Kaepernick’s message—for suggesting that they kneel together during subsequent anthems. The protest changed everything for Kaepernick. President Trump vilified him. Kaepernick and his wife received death threats. And though he’d taken the 49ers to a Super Bowl, no teams would sign him. He will likely make news for his take on Jay-Z, whose lucrative partnership with the NFL was criticized as an attempt to launder the league’s reputation. Visiting Africa, where Kaepernick learns about “African leaders who willingly sold their own people to the enslavers,” he “couldn’t help but to think about Jay-Z and the NFL.” In opening chapters, Kaepernick recalls suffering traumatic racial abuse as a child. Being in “white spaces”—he was adopted by white parents—placed him “under a microscope every minute of every day.” He isn’t always nuanced, depicting some people he disagrees with as cartoonishly clueless. But his writing about how college and pro teams “lied” to him about injuries underlines his “feeling of being a disposable commodity.” A decade has passed since Kaepernick played in the NFL, but he stays fit in case “a team needing a QB” calls.
A football star’s bracing account of his battle for racial equality—and how powerful forces arrayed against him.Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2026
ISBN: 9781538777879
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Legacy Lit/Hachette
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
