Why write a book about a singer whose music you hate and whom you don’t even respect? For singer-turned-writer Alina Simone, it’s because she was commissioned to do so, but the task ends up more rewarding than she initially anticipated.
Though Madonnaland seems to be about other musicians, at heart it’s a meditation on the author’s own career, which provides a convenient entry point for readers. Going in, I had even less interest in Madonna and her music than Simone did. But this is not a book for Madonna fans, nor is it a book for music nerds— it’s a meditation on success and failure and an attempt to come to some sort of peace with one’s place in the world. v
By Aline Simone (University of Texas Press)
