Tag: A Dream About Lightning Bugs

A Dream About Lightning Bugs by Ben Folds: Pianos, Pop Music, and a Life in Progress

A Dream About Lightning Bugs

A Dream About
Lightning Bugs:
A Life of Music
and Cheap Lessons

by Ben Folds

Trade Paperback, 311 pg.
Ballantine Books, 2019

Read: December 17-27, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

So what about the middle-aged making pop music? Sure, it’s allowed. But let’s be honest about what pop, or popular, music is. It’s music for the mating age. It’s a soundtrack for that yearning, that youthful anger, those ideals and inside jokes of the teenagers and young adults as they experience the rough ride together. It fills an an important need. It help us get through to adulthood. Pop music can be a life jacket, a sexy security blanket, a hipster Hallmark card. And it communicates very real things. It also requires serious craft and is a competitive business, worthy of great respect. Pop music saved my ass as a kid, paid the bills in my earlier career. And I love to make fun of it.

What’s A Dream About Lightning Bugs About?

Well, it’s a memoir by Ben Folds, covering childhood through the present (give or take a few years). He talks about the teachers that helped him along the way, his struggles in various schools, his early music career (including being a one-man polka band), how horrible he is at marriage, the formation of Ben Folds Five, the dissolution of it, his solo career, parenting and how (and why) his career is shifting, his thoughts on writing, music, comedy and all sorts of other things.

Basically, a little about everything.

Highlights

I don’t have time—and you don’t have the attention span—to write about all the things that are worth saying about this book. So, here’s a quick list of some of the highlights of the book:
bullet He has a section about humor records that he listened to as a kid, and muses on comedy in general. It was the first time in the book that things really clicked for me.
bullet There’s a section about life in the suburbs, the angry music associated with it in the 90s (and beyond) and I thought was really insightful.
bullet The story about the release day for his album Rockin’ the Suburbs and being live on the radio to promote it when the attacks for 9/11 happened. That chapter was just great.
bullet It’s hard to beat a section on writer’s block by someone who’s worked through it.
bullet I’m a big fan of the (little known) band Fleming and John—him talking about them for a paragraph or two made me really happy. Also, the part of the book about William Shatner? There’s nothing like a good Shatner story.
bullet Folds has done some truly horrible things on tour—throwing piano stools on a regular basis with the band (and breaking other things with those stools), lying like crazy about his personal life on tour with John Mayer and the fallout from it. It ain’t pretty, but it’s good to see him talking about it.

The Spotify Playlist

Random House has a Spotify playlist for the book, which is just a great idea. It’s a great soundtrack for the book or just fun to listen to on its own. There are many songs by Folds that he talks about or makes a passing reference to in the book. There are also many songs that he didn’t write/record but that he talks about. If you like Folds/the music that inspired him—you’re going to dig this.

So, what did I think about A Dream About Lightning Bugs?

I enjoyed getting to know Folds a bit better—warts and all. It took a long time for me to really get into it, though. Yes, the parts about his early life were interesting—and I enjoyed it, but it was really easy to put the book down.

But once we got to Ben Folds Five? I was hooked and I flew through the rest of the book. Maybe it’s because I was getting background information on the band and music I knew so well. But I think it’s because Folds shows a different kind of passion for things once his career started to take off and that passion translated into being more interesting reading. It’s likely a little of both and a few other things, too.

Some of the book that’s less about him and his career and more about his thoughts about creating, performing, music, etc.—that’s inspirational, motivational—and the kind of thing I’ll come back to re-read from time to time.

This probably isn’t a book for people who aren’t at least a casual fan of Folds as a solo artist or his band. But for those who are? It’s a lot of fun, and worth the time.


3.5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

My Favorite Non-Fiction Books of 2021

Favorite Non-Fiction 2021
My 2021 Wrap up continues and now we’re on to the Non-Fiction list. While I liked a number of works that didn’t make this list, I felt strange calling them a “favorite.” So, we have 6 instead of the nigh-obligatory 10 (Hartford had two books on the list, but I wouldn’t let someone else do that on another list, so I trimmed one from this). Like last year, I was surprised that I’d given so many of these 3 or 3 1/2 stars. But these are the ones that stuck with me through the year; the ones I cited in conversation; that I thought about when reading something else or watching something on TV. Really, that’s what’s important, right?

As always, I only put books that I’ve read for the first time on this list. I don’t return to NF books (outside of looking up things for one or three points), but occasionally I do—for example, The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs would get a permanent spot on this list, were it not for this rule.

(in alphabetical order by author)

Blood and TreasureBlood and Treasure: Daniel Boone and the Fight for America’s First Frontier

by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin

My original post
This book de-mythologized—and then re-mythologized (to a point) Daniel Boone, who ended up being more interesting (and more human) than I anticipated. Some of the writing was fantastic and you could forget you were reading history (there were other parts that were so dry it could be nothing else). The book looks at both Boone and the Fight for the Frontier—against Indians, French, and the English. It’s the kind of history book that convinces me that I should read more history—not to better myself, just because it’s worthwhile.

3.5 Stars

A Dream About Lightning BugsA Dream About Lightning Bugs: A Life of Music and Cheap Lessons

by Ben Folds

I haven’t written a post about this book yet, so it’s hard for me to try to give a thumbnail here. I enjoyed getting to know Folds a bit better—warts and all (and he’s not afraid to bring up some of the warts). Where this book really impressed me was when he talked about music—performing, creating, listening, what it means to a listener/performer. I’ve already returned to some of that material to reread—I’m not a musician, but I appreciate someone that thoughtful about it. It’s inspirational.

Also, his stuff about Shatner is just great.

3.5 Stars

The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of StatisticsThe Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics

by Tim Harford

My original post
This is one of those books I should go back and re-read, taking copious notes to help me internalize the points. We’re subject to people at work, on the news, online, and from the government throwing numbers, statistics, and “studies show” so often that it can be overwhelming. So much so that many people blindly accept everything they’re told from that formula, or doubt it all. Hartford’s point is that we should be skeptical, but to use that skepticism to dig out the real meaning behind the study/statistic and then use it for our advantage as a voter, citizen, employee, or person (or all of the above). Crystal clear writing, easily applicable, and more useful than most books on related subjects.

Actually, I think I just convinced myself to re-read it soon.

3 Stars

Nine Nasty WordsNine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter: Then, Now, and Forever

by John McWhorter

My original post
I’m a sucker for an entertaining look at language, and that’s what McWhorter delivered here. While I try to eschew the use of profanity, we’re surrounded by it so much more than we likely realize, so I might as well learn more about it, right? This was a solid look at the background and development of these “Big 9” words—in particular, I enjoyed McWhorter’s demonstration of how the words function as various parts of speech, as well as the varying nuances of meaning.

3 Stars

You'll Never Believe What Happened to LaceyYou’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories about Racism

by Amber Ruffin, Lacey Lamar

My original post
I talked about this in my favorite audiobook post, too, never fear—this’ll be the last time I bring it up this week.

Early on, Ruffin writes:

Twice a week, I get a text from my sister that says, “Can you talk?” It’s my favorite because I know I’m about to be transported to a place that exists in real life and fantasy: the place where coworkers will put their whole hand in your hair, talking ’bout “It’s fluffy like a dog.” I realize this sounds terrible, but it’s like watching Dateline. You can’t believe it was the GIRLFRIEND who killed the HUSBAND! It’s the edge of reality. Technically, it happens, but it is barely plausible. Excited, I steal away to the elevator banks at work and listen to Lacey tell me a new horror story. It’s fantastic. As I stand there, mouth agape, listening to some new fresh hell, I am always struck by the fact that these stories will only exist in this phone call. Some will go on to become stories once the topic turns to “racist people at work” one night when Lacey is hanging out with her friends, but she’ll forget most of them because of the sheer volume. The. Sheer. Volume.

That’s what this book is, a distillation of that volume. A compilation of the best/worst of those stories. They are tragic. They are sobering. They are frequently pretty funny. But only in the way they’re told. Lamar and Ruffin share these stories with an air of “you have to laugh or you’ll cry.” The kind of resigned laughter when you realize that your situation isn’t going to get better any time soon, so you might as well find the pleasure in it. A lot of this is hard to listen to/read—but it’s usually worth it. There’s also a decent level of “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down” running throughout this.

4 Stars

Moonlighting: An Oral HistoryMoonlighting: An Oral History

by Scott Ryan

My original post
It’s probably the most fun I’ve had with a book this year. Somehow, Ryan’s able to capture a little bit of the flavor of the show while getting into the history. Moonlighting was a revolutionary show, and he is able to talk to just about every significant figure involved in the creation and production of it for this history. He chronicles the ups, downs, and all-around zaniness. There are deep-dives on important episodes and or tricky scenes, as well as broader looks at themes, storylines, characters, etc. It’s easy to forget just how magical this show was, but spending some time with Ryan will remind viewers of a certain age of just what a ground-breaking, oft-controversial, and entertaining series it was.

5 Stars

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