Guitar Man, Or

You Love That Guitar More Than You Love Me ...

I happened across this in the local bookstore yesterday, and it's hard to imagine a guitar player who won't find something to like in it.

Guitar Man: Or, You Love That Guitar More Than You Love Me, by Will Hodgkinson, is one the best books on why to play the guitar I've ever seen. Touching, amusing -- might-have-to-change-your-pants funny in spots, it chronicles the adventures of a thirty-something British writer who decides he need to learn how to play, and who sets himself a goal of playing in front of an audience in six months. And some of the players he interviews and tries to learn from along the way.

My edition is from Da Capo Press, just out in the states, apparently, though it saw publication in the U.K. in 2006

It is worth buying just for the scene where Will decides to get out of his basement and go into he woods to practice, to commune with nature using his acoustic guitar. Time I got to the end of the scene, I could hardly breathe I was laughing so hard.

If you play guitar, get it. You'll like it. If you are a good player, it will bring back memories of when you weren't.

If you are a beginner, it will give you hope ...