Song Book

Music shapes our world, gives it meaning. The songs we love are indelibly connected in our consciousness to crucial events, to powerful emotions, to that which we have lost. Though written by others, they chronicle our own lives, have unique and profound connotations for each listener. The song that recalls our first love. The blues we played to ease the pain of a break-up. The lyrics that invariably bring tears to our eyes. The stirring tunes and muscular brass that help us celebrate. Their enduring melodies and accompanying lyrics help us to understand ourselves, to make sense of our experiences. They remind us that we are not alone in our joys and our sorrows.

Songbook is a collection of fictional short stories that reflect the profound influence of rock music and its lyrics on the author's life. Many stories draw their inspiration from the poetic lyrics of classic songs. Others explore what the songs we sing reveal about our personalities, our choices, the nature of a modern world. As a book, the stories - about a chance meeting on a Voyageur bus, a surprising mishap in the delivery room, love in the age of climate change, a mysterious satchel left in the back seat of an airport limousine, and many others - explore the hopes, fears, disappointments, weaknesses and redemptions that make us human.