Because I needed a reason to procrastinate, I decided to build a playlist for For Exposure: The Life and Times of a Small Press publisher.

“Hell” by The Squirrel Nut Zippers — The book opens with a sweaty preacher evangelizing about hell. Play this song in the background while reading. (Prologue)

“Kiss Off” by Violent Femmes — An appropriate choice for my ungraceful exit from city government. I considered “Take This Job and Shove It”, but that seemed too obvious. (Chapter 1)

“Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo” by Bloodhound Gang — An obvious choice for the chapter that has the honey-baked ham. (Chapter 2)

“Brass Monkey” by The Beastie Boys — A song about a nasty drink plays nicely with a story involving a nasty drink. (Chapter 3)

“N.W.O.” by Ministry — This song aptly expresses the unruliness of a slush pile. (Chapter 4)

“Happy Idiot” by TV on the Radio — Happy idiot describes me during the first few years of running Apex. (Chapter 5)

“S.O.B.” by Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats — Sermonizing about the dangers of the devil’s drink. Perfect for the chapter of how Dark Faith was birthed. (Chapter 6)

“Anthem for the Already Defeated” by Rock Plaza Central — It’s hard to succeed when you’re your own worse enemy. (Chapter 7)

“Party Hard” by Andrew W.K. — The way to build a legend. (Chapter 8)

“Put Your Hand in the Puppet Head” by They Might Be Giants — Do the things you have to do. (Chapter 9)

“Human Behavior” by Bjork — This chapter is full of odd human behavior. Nice fit. (Chapter 10)

“Oxford Comma” by Vampire Weekend — Any chapter with a contribution from Janet Harriett has to play to this tune. (Chapter 11)

“Sprawl II” by Arcade Fire — The climax of the book centered around losing has to be accompanied about by a song of loss and artistic endeavor. (Chapter 12)

“Do You Realize?” by The Flaming Lips — I relate this song to the up and down nature of life that is sort of magnified by my successes and failures.

I had a blast putting the playlist together. I hope you enjoy the music!