Author Description

"Of all the Heartbreakers tracks available to come through her headphones as Megan Volpert stood over train tracks preparing to surrender to the psychedelic blindness of simple human misery, "Straight Into Darkness" is the one that did. In this highly philosophical and deeply personal exploration of one obscure Tom Petty song, Volpert's essays comb through the musical, historical, rhetorical and sociological implications of a forgotten gem in a legendary catalog with satisfying results. In the face of powerlessness, we rebel anyway. She judges the forty years of Petty's career with one finger on the pulse of Bob Dylan and an occasional whiff of Bruce Springsteen, looking at the sometimes violent mob scene of concerts as a type of transcendence. Straight Into Darkness offers a compelling vision of rock and roll fandom where the songwriter's hardworking sense of humor is enough to save us from absurdity. All you need is Albert Camus and a couple of chords. Long after dark, Petty and Volpert each emerge as modern mystics. A finalist for the Georgia author of the year award, the book was described by the judges: Straight into Darkness is a music historian and pop culture aficionado's dream - a deeply visceral, exhaustive, and eloquent appreciation for one of the greatest contemporary musicians of our time, Tom Petty. Volpert meticulously traces Petty's quest for originality and autonomy throughout his decades-long career. Petty was a gifted musician who thought outside of the box and challenged conventional norms. And Volpert is a gifted critic, whose tribute makes for an illustrious addition to the genre of music criticism"--