Mix It Up, Sheffield

We bumped into journalist David Fricke last week, and now it’s time to talk about another noteworthy Rolling Stone columnist: Rob Sheffield. He’s the man behind “Pop Life,” which applies Sheffield’s literate, grad-schooled thoughts to such pressing issues as Grey’s Anatomy’s popularity and The Hold Steady’s awesomeness. He’s the Chuck Klosterman of Rolling Stone, albeit with less facial hair.

And like Chuck Klosterman, Sheffield has parlayed his journalism experience into a book career. Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time may not be the best title for one’s first novel, but this book is good. Really, really Good. We’re talking High Fidelity levels of good, although Sheffield's piece is considerably more heartbreaking than Nick Horby’s musical masterpiece.