LIT Riffs

Twenty-four celebrated writers have penned stories inspired by great songs. Just as Bangs cast new light on a Rod Stewart classic with his story "Maggie May," about a wholly unexpected connection between an impressionable young man and an aging, alcoholic hooker, the diverse stories here use songs as a springboard for a form dubbed the lit riff.

Tom Perrotta is the bestselling author of eight works of fiction, including?Election?and?Little Children, both of which were made into critically acclaimed movies, and?The Leftovers, which was adapted into an HBO series. He lives outside Boston.

Toure is a cohost of MSNBC’s The Cycle and a columnist for Time.com. He is the author of four books, including Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness?, a New York Times and Washington Post notable book, and I Would Die 4 U: Why Prince Became an Icon. He lives in Brooklyn.

Matthew Miele created and developed the idea for Lit Riffs in order to reinvent the musical experience through literature. While a literary agent with John Hawkins & Associates, Inc., he handpicked the hippest and most celebrated storytellers of our time to imaginatively compose stories inspired by songs.
Prior to his publishing career, Miele wrote and directed the feature film Everything's Jake -- due for release in fall 2004, starring Ernie Hudson, Graeme Malcolm, Debbie Allen, Robin Givens, and Lou Rawls -- and was a sound designer/music composer for film and television.
Miele recently founded and is current host of the Manhattan Concert Club (MCC), a subscription-based, ten-concert series presenting intimate, acoustic performances by the world's most renowned recording artists in a wide variety of Manhattan's most unique and treasured settings. Miele hopes that every MCC Concert will reflect to true music enthusiasts what the inception of the "Lit Riff" and this groundbreaking collection ultimately will reflect as well -- a renewed celebration of and appreciation for great music.

Neil Strauss is an award-winning Rolling Stone editor, New York Times columnist, and writer/cowriter of eight New York Times bestselling books including The Game and The Truth.