Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste (33 1/3) [Paperback]

(Title mention in Sue Baker's Selection of forthcoming titles - Jan 07 Publishing News )

"Let's Talk" about one of the most interesting music books you'll read this year...The always critical and erudite Mr. Wilson actually approached Let's Talk About Love as a non-fan grappling with questions of "good" and "bad" taste... It's almost certainly the only installment in the series to discussFrench-Canadian race relations, rockism, and Milan Kundera's thoughtson kitsch."
—Idolator.com


"This could be the best book of the series...razor-sharp and unerringly intelligent." —John Wenzel, The Denver Post (John Wenzel )

"This book seriously explores the wide divide between mainstream pop that is mass-marketed and purchased, and the critics who usually sneer at it for those very reasons. It's a heady work that examines everything from 'reductive Marxist theories of culture' to why critics value restrained singing while 'American Idol' fans embrace 'show-offy' technical power." -Las Vegas Review Journal (Mike Weatherfork )

"A book pondering the aesthetics of Céline risks going wrongin about 3,000 different ways...Instead, this book goes very deeply right."
—New York Magazine (Sam Anderson )

"Let's Talk About Love is a rigorous, perceptive andvery funny meditation on what happens when you realize that there's more tolife than being hip, and begin to grapple with just what that "more"might be." —MontrealGazette


"A bit of a departure for Continuum's 33 1/3 series exploringclassic records...readers of the dizzingly dweeby intellectualizing that oftenmakes Wilson's blog an exhausting pleasure to read will not be surprised that,for him, a discussion of the love theme from Titanic must encompass an examinationof Quebecois culture, the history of parlour entertainment as it relates to theimmigrant experience, the philosophies of Hume and Kant and the sociologicalexperiments of Pierre Bordieu." —Eye Weekly
(Edward Keenan )


"By exploring taste, kitsch, culture, fans, the state ofcontemporary criticism, Quebec nationalism, and economics in Celine Dion's Let'sTalk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste, Carl Wilson manages to produceone of the most interesting and erudite books on why people love and hatecertain kinds of art...Readers will find themselves evaluating their views onarts with added scrutiny after reading this surprising and provocative book —HipsterBook Club


"A wide-ranging book, one predicated on the possibility that what repels us may say more about us than what attracts us...[an] insightful, engaging, and unexpectedly moving book." -Jason Anderson, The Globe and Mail (Jason Anderson )

"An important study- not just of Dion and pop music but also of the changing nature of criticism in the popular realm." —Andy Battaglia, Bookforum (Andy Battaglia )

"As refreshing a music book I have read in a long time." —Largehearted Boy, Book Notes (David Gutowski )

"An illustration of the best side of music criticism." —Erasing Clouds

"Wilsonuses Dion's record as a crowbar, and pries open the assumptions and prejudiceswhich shape our tastes in the first place. Despite our preconceptions surrounding Wilson's ostensible subject (or perhaps,because of them), the results are subtle, and startling enough to give the mostjaded of readers pause." —Flavorpill NYC
(Alex Abramovich )

"I still don't like what I know of Dion's music and probablynever will. But Wilson's efforts toexamine the rote critical assumption that Celine Dion's music blows digs up allkinds of fascinating issues about the nature of taste and the hierarchy of popculture." —Bohemian.com


"An insightful,engaging and unexpectedly moving book." -Globe and Mail
(Jason Anderson )

"Brilliant." —Alex Ross, author of The Rest is Noise

"Consistently thought provoking" —Express: A Publication of The Washington Post (Matthew Siblo )



"Music criticism is often just guy-world. Wilson'sthe real thing. I can't praise thissmall book enough. Smart, but humane." —HeatherMallick, CBC News: Analysis and Viewpoint (Heather Mallick )

"It's fascinating stuff...By turns hilarious and heartwarming."—Guardian Unlimited Arts blog
(Dave Stelfox )

Mention on Offbeat.com

(Alex Rawls )

Carl Wilson was interviewed by The Onion's A.V. Club (Steven Hyden )

"Framed by an irresistableconcept...Wilsonturns the [33 1/3] series on its head by seriously considering a blockbusterhit by Celine Dion." —ChristopherGray, Portland Phoenix
(Christopher Gray )

"Wilson's approach to Celine Dion...stands out. Wilson examines why he loathes it, its creator and everything about her— and what inspires devotion in her bast army of followers around the world...Clever and witty, it almost make me seek out the album. But not quite." —The Herald, Glasgow (Keith Bruce )

"Constantlyinteresting and thought-provoking...and I think he can teach us a few valuablethings about criticism, for what it's worth." —Uncut, UK
(John Mulvey )

Mention in Today's Books / Bookweek
The A-List


"Wilsoncovers a lot of ground in his 161-page quest; the second half of the book readslike a Cultural Studies power ballad, invoking Roland Barthes, Theodor Adorno,Immanuel Kant, Clement Greenberg, Arthur C. Danto, and scores of othercontemporary critics in rapid succession. Perhaps most impressively, Wilson condenses Frenchsociologist Pierre Bourdieu's mammoth (and seminal) tome Distinction: A SocialCritique of the Judgment of Taste into one spry little chapter." -Rain Taxi


"It's said there's no accounting for taste, but Canadianmusic critic Carl Wilson certainly makes a Herculean effort in this latestentry in Continuum's 33 1/3 series...En route, Wilson finds plenty of fellowdetractors, generously hashes out a lengthy definition of "schmaltz," and dragsElliott Smith, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Clement Greenberg, Pierre Bourdieu,and a gaggle of shameless starry-eyed Dion fanatics into his intellectual andaesthetic morass." —Baltimore City Paper
(Raymond Cummings )

"'Morally you could fairly ask, Wilson writes, 'what is more laudable about excess in the name of rage and resentment than immoderation in thrall to love and connection?' That is, indeed, a fair and moral question, and it leads Wilson to wonder 'if anyone's tastes stand on solid ground, starting with mine.' He doesn't reach any definite conclusions, but the conversation he carries on through the centuries with everyone from philosophers David Hume and Immanuel Kant to sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, is by turns enlightening, provocative and unexpectedly moving. Wilson aptly calls Let's Talk About Love 'an experiment in taste,' and maybe as much as anything else, the book argues that such an experiment is one we'd all do well to conduct." —No Depression (David Cantwell )







"I teach in a university drama programme and I plan tointegrate the book into our first-year Critical Theories course as a way tointroduce students to principles of aesthetics, and to the discourse aroundpop/high culture. It's difficult to make Kantian aesthetics accessible to 18year olds. Let's Talk About Love is arare instance of the transmission of complex and sophisticated ideas inlanguage that is accessible without being dumbed-down."
-Karen Fricker, Lecturer in Contemporary Theatre, Royal Holloway, University of London

"Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste offersa rare combination of compelling research and enormously entertaining writing,a real find for students of popular culture. It's a compact little volumepacked with keen insights into the ideologies that have shaped music criticismand scholarship, thought-provoking commentary on problems of aesthetics, andsensitive reflexive analysis. That reflexivity, along with a carefulbalance of critical theory and field research, makes this work particularlyappropriate for courses with an ethnomusicological angle. And asethnomusicologists continue to cultivate a growing sub-field in popular musicstudies, Let's Talk About Love is a timely and valuable resource."
-Katherine Meizel, Lecturer in Ethnomusicology,University of California, Santa Barbara





"...a brilliant read and a total eye-opener. Unlike other contributors, Wilson doesn't shore up another crumbling wall of the canon but dives into a world of kitsch to ask what makes us hate music. How can we know that 'bad' music really is bad, and what is taste anyway? It'll shake all your critical certainties, which is not a very good idea when you're in my line of work."
-The Word Magazine






Erudite and eye-opening (Reviewed as part of Pitchfork's "Our 60 Favorite Music Books" feature )


(, Publishing News )

"This could be the best book of the series...razor-sharp and unerringly intelligent." —John Wenzel, The Denver Post (, )

"This book seriously explores the wide divide between mainstream pop that is mass-marketed and purchased, and the critics who usually sneer at it for those very reasons.  It's a heady work that examines everything from 'reductive Marxist theories of culture' to why critics value restrained singing while 'American Idol' fans embrace 'show-offy' technical power." -Las Vegas Review Journal (, )

"A book pondering the aesthetics of Céline risks going wrongin about 3,000 different ways…Instead, this book goes very deeply right.”
–New York Magazine (, )

“A bit of a departure for Continuum’s 33 1/3 series exploringclassic records…readers of the dizzingly dweeby intellectualizing that oftenmakes Wilson’s blog an exhausting pleasure to read will not be surprised that,for him, a discussion of the love theme from Titanic must encompass an examinationof Quebecois culture, the history of parlour entertainment as it relates to theimmigrant experience, the philosophies of Hume and Kant and the sociologicalexperiments of Pierre Bordieu.” –Eye Weekly
(, )


“By exploring taste, kitsch, culture, fans, the state ofcontemporary criticism, Quebec nationalism, and economics in Celine Dion’s Let’sTalk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste, Carl Wilson manages to produceone of the most interesting and erudite books on why people love and hatecertain kinds of art…Readers will find themselves evaluating their views onarts with added scrutiny after reading this surprising and provocative book —HipsterBook Club


"A wide-ranging book, one predicated on the possibility that what repels us may say more about us than what attracts us...[an] insightful, engaging, and unexpectedly moving book." -Jason Anderson, The Globe and Mail (, )

"An important study- not just of Dion and pop music but also of the changing nature of criticism in the popular realm." —Andy Battaglia, Bookforum (, )

"As refreshing a music book I have read in a long time." —Largehearted Boy, Book Notes (, )

“Wilsonuses Dion’s record as a crowbar, and pries open the assumptions and prejudiceswhich shape our tastes in the first place. Despite our preconceptions surrounding Wilson’s ostensible subject (or perhaps,because of them), the results are subtle, and startling enough to give the mostjaded of readers pause.” –Flavorpill NYC
(, )

“I still don’t like what I know of Dion’s music and probablynever will. But Wilson’s efforts toexamine the rote critical assumption that Celine Dion’s music blows digs up allkinds of fascinating issues about the nature of taste and the hierarchy of popculture.” –Bohemian.com


“An insightful,engaging and unexpectedly moving book.” -Globe and Mail
(, )

"Consistently thought provoking" —Express: A Publication of The Washington Post (, )

"Music criticism is often just guy-world. Wilson’sthe real thing. I can’t praise thissmall book enough. Smart, but humane.” –HeatherMallick, CBC News: Analysis and Viewpoint  (, )

“It’s fascinating stuff…By turns hilarious and heartwarming.”—Guardian Unlimited Arts blog 
(, )

Mention on Offbeat.com

(, )

"Framed by an irresistableconcept...Wilsonturns the [33 1/3] series on its head by seriously considering a blockbusterhit by Celine Dion." —ChristopherGray, Portland Phoenix
(, )

"Wilson's approach to Celine Dion...stands out.  Wilson examines why he loathes it, its creator and everything about her— and what inspires devotion in her bast army of followers around the world...Clever and witty, it almost make me seek out the album.  But not quite."  —The Herald, Glasgow (, )

“Constantlyinteresting and thought-provoking…and I think he can teach us a few valuablethings about criticism, for what it’s worth.” –Uncut, UK
(, )

“Wilsoncovers a lot of ground in his 161-page quest; the second half of the book readslike a Cultural Studies power ballad, invoking Roland Barthes, Theodor Adorno,Immanuel Kant, Clement Greenberg, Arthur C. Danto, and scores of othercontemporary critics in rapid succession. Perhaps most impressively, Wilson condenses Frenchsociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s mammoth (and seminal) tome Distinction: A SocialCritique of the Judgment of Taste into one spry little chapter.” -Rain Taxi


“It’s said there’s no accounting for taste, but Canadianmusic critic Carl Wilson certainly makes a Herculean effort in this latestentry in Continuum’s 33 1/3 series…En route, Wilson finds plenty of fellowdetractors, generously hashes out a lengthy definition of “schmaltz,” and dragsElliott Smith, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Clement Greenberg, Pierre Bourdieu,and a gaggle of shameless starry-eyed Dion fanatics into his intellectual andaesthetic morass.” –Baltimore City Paper
(, )

“’Morally you could fairly ask, Wilson writes, 'what is more laudable about excess in the name of rage and resentment than immoderation in thrall to love and connection?’ That is, indeed, a fair and moral question, and it leads Wilson to wonder 'if anyone’s tastes stand on solid ground, starting with mine.’ He doesn’t reach any definite conclusions, but the conversation he carries on through the centuries with everyone from philosophers David Hume and Immanuel Kant to sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, is by turns enlightening, provocative and unexpectedly moving. Wilson aptly calls Let’s Talk About Love 'an experiment in taste,’ and maybe as much as anything else, the book argues that such an experiment is one we’d all do well to conduct.” —No Depression (, )

“I teach in a university drama programme and I plan tointegrate the book into our first-year Critical Theories course as a way tointroduce students to principles of aesthetics, and to the discourse aroundpop/high culture. It's difficult to make Kantian aesthetics accessible to 18year olds. Let's Talk About Love is arare instance of the transmission of complex and sophisticated ideas inlanguage that is accessible without being dumbed-down.”
-Karen Fricker, Lecturer in Contemporary Theatre, Royal Holloway, University of London

“Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste offersa rare combination of compelling research and enormously entertaining writing,a real find for students of popular culture.  It's a compact little volumepacked with keen insights into the ideologies that have shaped music criticismand scholarship, thought-provoking commentary on problems of aesthetics, andsensitive reflexive analysis.  That reflexivity, along with a carefulbalance of critical theory and field research, makes this work particularlyappropriate for courses with an ethnomusicological angle. And asethnomusicologists continue to cultivate a growing sub-field in popular musicstudies, Let's Talk About Love is a timely and valuable resource.”
-Katherine Meizel, Lecturer in Ethnomusicology,University of California, Santa Barbara

Carl Wilson is a writer and editor at The Globe and Mail, Canada's national newspaper, and his work also has appeared in Pitchfork, Slate, The New York Times, Blender and many other publications. His pieces were selected for two of Da Capo Books' annual Best Music Writing collections, in 2002 and 2007, by guest editors Jonathan Lethem and Robert Christgau. He runs the popular music blog Zoilus.com and is part of the team behind Trampoline Hall, Toronto's acclaimed nightclub series of lectures by non-experts, which toured America in 2002.