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Rob Sheffield

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Rob Sheffield
Sheffield at the 2007 Brooklyn Book Festival
Sheffield at the 2007 Brooklyn Book Festival
BornRobert James Sheffield
(1966-02-02) February 2, 1966 (age 58)
Milton, Massachusetts, U.S.
OccupationAuthor, columnist
NationalityAmerican
GenreMusic
pop culture
Spouse
Renee Crist
​
​
(m. 1991; died 1997)​
Ally Polak
​
(m. 2006)​

Robert James Sheffield (born February 2, 1966) is an American music journalist and author.[1]

He is a long time contributing editor at Rolling Stone, writing about music, TV, and pop culture. Previously, he was a contributing editor at Blender, Spin and Details magazines. A native of Milton, Massachusetts, Sheffield has a bachelor's degree from Yale University and master's degree (1991) from the University of Virginia.[2]

Sheffield lives in Brooklyn, New York.[3]

Published works

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Sheffield has written eight books. His first, a memoir published by Random House in January 2007, is titled Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time. An excerpt of the book was featured in the January 2007 issue of GQ. A national bestseller, the book was met with much acclaim.[4][5]

Sheffield's sixth book, released in April 2017, is called Dreaming the Beatles: The Love Story of One Band and the Whole World. An excerpt was published online by Rolling Stone.[6] USA Today gave Dreaming the Beatles three and one-half (out of four) stars and called it a "charming new collection of essays."[7] Spin added that "Dreaming the Beatles is equal parts history and cultural criticism, as Sheffield draws from dozens of sources to lay down the story of how the Beatles came to be, before writing about why any of it matters."[8] MTV opined that "Dreaming the Beatles is one of the best books about the band ever written."[9] Sheffield won the ASCAP Foundation's Virgil Thomson Award for Outstanding Music Criticism for Dreaming the Beatles in 2017.[10]

Sheffield's latest book, published in November 2024, about singer Taylor Swift, is entitled Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music. Writing in The New York Times, Amanda Hess praises his encyclopedic knowledge of Swift's music, fans, and business acumen, but especially her talent as a songwriter, saying "everything always leads back to her virtuosic writing".[11] Publishers Weekly says "the unrestrained delight with which Sheffield captures his subject, [mixes] a fan’s exuberance with a music critic’s nuanced analysis."[12] Kirkus Reviews similarly calls it "an affectionate homage from an ardent fan".[13]

Bibliography

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  • 2007 – Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time. ISBN 9781400083039
  • 2009 – Bande Originale (French Edition). ISBN 2355840202
  • 2010 – Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man's Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut. ISBN 0452297230
  • 2013 – Turn Around Bright Eyes: The Rituals of Love and Karaoke. ISBN 0062207628
  • 2016 – On Bowie. ISBN 0062562703
  • 2017 – Dreaming the Beatles: The Love Story of One Band and the Whole World. ISBN 0062207652
  • 2019 – The Wild Heart of Stevie Nicks (Audible book). ASIN B07PRK66HL
  • 2024 – Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music. ISBN 0063351315

References

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  1. ^ Barnes, Lindsay (January 25, 2007). "COVER- Love Is a Mix Tape: Rolling Stone writer on love and loss in Charlottesville". The Hook. Archived from the original on August 23, 2009.
  2. ^ Lowery, Samantha (April 14, 2009). "She Lives in Song". University of Virginia Magazine. University of Virginia Alumni Association. Archived from the original on April 25, 2019. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  3. ^ Dempsey, Luke (2010). "Duran Duran and the bogus era". Politico PRO. Archived from the original on December 2, 2021. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  4. ^ Terzian, Peter (December 31, 2006). "The day the music died". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 2, 2021. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  5. ^ "Love Is a Mix Tape". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on December 2, 2021. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  6. ^ Sheffield, Rob (April 24, 2017). "Rob Sheffield on the Beatles' Solo Wilderness Years". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 5, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  7. ^ Willis, Kim (April 25, 2017). "'Dreaming the Beatles': We love them yeah, yeah, yeah!". USA Today. Archived from the original on June 10, 2017. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  8. ^ Gordon, Jeremy (May 10, 2017). "Rob Sheffield's Dreaming the Beatles Is a Fresh Look at the Most Popular Band Ever". Spin. Archived from the original on July 5, 2017. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  9. ^ Collins, Sean T. (May 17, 2017). "Dreaming the Beatles Author Rob Sheffield On The Fab Four's Unstoppable Pop". MTV News. Archived from the original on July 1, 2017. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  10. ^ Robbins, Caryn (October 12, 2017). "Journalists on Beatles & More Receive Deems Taylor/ Virgil Thomson Awards". Broadway World. Archived from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  11. ^ Hess, Amanda (November 9, 2024). "Is Taylor Swift's Superpower a Gift for Writing?". The New York Times Book Review. The New York Times.
  12. ^ "Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music by Rob Sheffield". www.publishersweekly.com. September 10, 2024.
  13. ^ "HEARTBREAK IS THE NATIONAL ANTHEM". Kirkus Reviews. September 27, 2024.
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