A sort of oral history of Memphis, Tav Falco rides around town on his motorbike, referring to himself in the third person, armed with a well-used thesaurus, and interviewing dozens of local personalities from record producers to bikies. Unfortunately Tav is seriously lacking in an editor, a proof reader and a world atlas (it's SYDNEY Tav, not Sidney.) This could have been a great book: the stories told by the colourful characters are really interesting and I do feel I know more about this fascinating city but we get too bogged down in details about the author's time in the obscure post-punk, no-wave band Panther Burn, including a lengthy, unnecessary and fairly boring interview towards the end.

Tav Falco (or Eugene Baffle? I'm so confused) is a seriously weird guy, but it kind of adds to the charm. Don't read this book expecting a coherent narrative about the history of Memphis but what is there might be even more rewarding despite (or because of) of its weirdness and eccentricities. ( )