The year's best essays and articles on music as selected by Nick Hornby, author of High Fidelity. Welcome to the second volume in an exciting annual series that celebrates the year's best writing about music and its culture, as selected by Nick Hornby, creator of the most famously music-obsessed hero in contemporary fiction. Covering the gamut of contemporary music styles, he has chosen pieces from a dizzying array of sources on topics that range from hip-hop on ecstasy and Cuban rappers to "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and MerleFest. The writers will include such distinguished veterans and bright new talents as: Courtney Love, Camden Joy, Rick Moody, Anthony DeCurtis, William Gay, Gary Giddins, M. Doughty, Eddie Dean, Richard Meltzer, Whitney Balliett, David Bowman, Ann Powers, Chuck D:Featuring the smartest, edgiest, richest, funniest, and just plain best work of the year, this collection is a must-have for music lovers and lovers of great writing alike.