Nighthawk Blues: A Novel (1980)

Peter Guralnick is my favorite music writer. His book Sweet Soul Music led me deep into a southern soul fixation that cost me more money than I'd like to consider and kept me removed from indie and alternative rock for most of the 90s. He mostly writes roots music-related biographies or histories, so this fictional book is a slight departure from his usual work, and likely why I never picked it until now. As a story, it's just fine, detailing the life of an aging blues guitarist much the way he does in his other books. But since this is fiction, he uses the complicated relationships between the artist, his white fan/manager and white female protege to explore authenticity, reverence, and performance. While those concepts are still relevant, they're discussed differently now, making the book feel a bit dated. Then again, maybe I've read too much cultural theory.