Madonnaland

ALINA SIMONE is a singer-turned-writer whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. She is the author of the essay collection You Must Go and Win and the novel Note to Self, as well as a regular contributor to the PRI news radio show The World.

• 1. Conspiracy in Bay City, or, Why is Madonna's birthplace the last place in America where she is actively controversial?2. Seeking Refuge from '80s Rock, or, Was Madonna actually an outsider artist?3. Magical Contagion, or, What happens to Madonna's lonely mountain of stuff after she dies?4. Madonna Misconstrued, or, Getting the hell into Michigan5. Mystery of the Mondegreen, or, Who was the first band to smuggle the word "masturbate" onto the Billboard top 100?6. Flying Wedge, or, Could a band with three fans be (another) missing link between hard rock and punk?EpilogueThanks

"Simone . . . achieves a productive union between the obscure and the intriguing." (New York Times Book Review) "Madonnaland is a wonderful collection of essays on subjects ranging from one man's quest to get Bay City to recognize its famous daughter, and other bands that hail from the Michigan city, like Question Mark and the Mysterians. Simone is a deeply funny writer, but also a perceptive, compassionate one." (NPR's Best Books of 2016) "Alina Simone gives us a fuller, weirder and more interesting overview of Madonna than we may have thought possible. . . . It's the way Simone presents her story that's most riveting, whether it's looking at idiosyncratic figures from the pop star's home state . . . or her own journey from pop music fandom to indie rock." (Rolling Stone's 10 Best Music Books of 2016) "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…a meditation on success and failure and an attempt to come to some sort of peace with one's place in the world." (Chicago Reader) "Simone’s book is more than a portrait of Madonna and the people who love her, it’s a reflection on the nature of pop music fandom." (Men's Journal, "The Best Books of March") "Alina Simone’s Madonnaland is a totally excellent book, and if you don’t bother to read it, you will be missing something significant in the development of modern cultural criticism." (PopMatters) "The entire book is great fun for any lover of music history, and Simone always supplies contrary and complicating thinking about her own opinions...Madonnaland is another fine book on contemporary music from the University of Texas Press." (Yes! Weekly)