Bliss

Danyel Smith

Music critics are rarely praised for being good writers. Comedian Patton Oswalt has a brilliant stand-up routine that involves reading album reviews straight from the pages of CMJ New Music Monthly. After all, what could be more hilarious than a bunch of underpaid hacks knocking themselves out to use the world’s most awkward analogies and words that may only otherwise be found at the National Spelling Bee?

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But Danyel Smith was never the typical music critic: She was always a fan first, even as she ascended the ranks from editor-in-chief of Vibe to editor-at-large at Time. She’s got a strong command of the written word and never delves into pretentious language, which translates well into entertaining fiction.

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Smith’s second novel, Bliss, places a time-honored love triangle in the midst of the greed and debauchery of the music industry. She hones in on the urban corner of the biz in the muddled aftermath of Tupac and Biggie’s mid-’90s murders, a time when Smith had total access to the stars.

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She opens the story at the annual “Vince the Voice Urban Music Takes Over the World: International Marketing for the Millennium” convention, the ridiculously spot-on name that could have easily been based on the now defunct Atlanta conference, Jack the Rapper, where current stars like Ludacris got their early inspiration. It’s set in the Bahamas, coincidentally (or not) the site of this September’s Power Summit, an influential industry hoo-ha for radio DJs and the people who love to bribe them.

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Like Hanif Kureishi’s The Black Album or Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity, the author’s infatuation with music trivia shines through in the prose, but not so much that it alienates those who don’t care quite as much. Smith’s heroine, 34-year-old music exec Eva Glenn, typically combats stressful romantic situations by reciting songs, album titles, and release dates in her head, a familiar yet comforting device as the plot advances and gets a bit more strange.

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Smith has wondered aloud on her blog (nakedcartwheels.blogspot.com) whether her book doesn’t come off as too girly with its shiny, hot-pink packaging that features an estrogen-laced quote from Mariah Carey on the front. And while ladies might gravitate toward the novel a little quicker, fellas shouldn’t be scared of a little Bliss — especially those who enjoy laughing at the excesses of the music industry.






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