Love Is a Mix Tape

In Love Is a Mix Tape, Rolling Stone Contributing Editor Rob Sheffield puts words to a period in his life previously left explained through a hodgepodge of singles and album tracks. While at first glance the book appears to be a eulogy for Sheffield’s late wife, Spin writer Renee Crist, it is also a celebration of the mixtape as a viable artistic medium. Initially there’s a fear that Sheffield has attempted to replicate Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity, but the two books are vastly different with contrasting intents. Sheffield recognizes that, like his relationship with Crist, the mixtape represents a time and feeling that cannot be recaptured. Ultimately he comes to terms with both his personal and creative losses. In December of ’98, during the Christmas following his wife’s death, Sheffield sees his first mix CD, signaling the symbolic end of an era.