Publisher's Synopsis
You've got a decent pension on top of social security, you adore your grandkids, you're watching your cholesterol-you're a rock 'n' roll fan. Growing Old with Rock and Roll paints the new face of a genre once associated with countercultures and youth, and that face is increasingly mainstream and adult. As baby boomers age, argues author Joseph Kotarba, rock 'n' roll continues to shape their lives and identities in powerful ways. Sociologists now have the opportunity to study rock culture longitudinally, over the dynamic life-span of fans. A seasoned sociologist of popular culture and a fifty-two year rock fan himself, Kotarba evaluates the complex ways in which the music is a key source of meaning for adults, from parent-child interaction and conflict resolution within rock-fan families to social class and consumption behavior. He also examines aging musicians' professional choices, lifestyle adaptations, and health. Based on extensive ethnographic research, Kotarba's engaging prose will make Growing Old with Rock n Roll particularly successful as an undergraduate and graduate text in the fields of sociology, American studies, cultural studies, and popular music. It is also a book that no rock 'n' roll fan with an emerging spot of grey can afford to miss.
