I've been catching up on podcasts after a long interval of being unable to sync an ipod and was chortling away to the recent one with Robin Ince talking about bad books when I was outraged to hear ME slimeing the reputation of an author he hasn't read.

I suppose it's because Georgette Heyer is so very popular and has been in print continuously for so many years that her name sometimes trips off the tongue of an ignoramus looking for the name of an average writer of romances or even bodice rippers. She was not.

Her books are elegant, witty and intelligent - some genre romance readers find them unsatisfactory in the romance department as there is little by way of overt passion. Ok, it's entertainment fiction, not great literature, but it's very good entertainment fiction. She can be criticized for elitism as her world is relentlessly upper class. Others find it hard to cope with the wealth of unfamiliar terms... wisty castor, nankeens, reticule for instance.

Before criticising, try reading one. I'd suggest "The Foundling" (1948) for ME as one of the stars is a grubby schoolboy with whom he might empathize. If you don't laugh out loud at the backward race, I wash my hands of you. And really, there's hardly any romance....

* I know ME claims to be a luddite, so if necessary Fraser, I'd be very grateful if you could pass my comments on to him!

Mr Pogs is averse to Country Music.
Over the years he has softened on the subject of Lucinda Williams - having been dragged to see her a few times and all that.
Over a couple of glasses of shiraz last night, he expressed a willingness to maybe try a little something else.
I'm thinking, nothing too overt, maybe Gram Parsons. Maybe Loretta Lynn's Van Lear Rose. Maybe Shelby Lynne. I dunno.
Would the massive care to aid my choice? And make it good, please, because I am going to have to listen to some prog in return...
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Thank you so much to everyone who helped with this. I've had so much fun and discovered some great new-to-me artists and re-connected with some others. You're all wonderful. Big kisses!

Below a link to most of Mr P's playlist on Spotify. The missing (from Spotify) tracks are Jim White - Handcuffed to a Fence in Mississippi and Cowboy Junkies - Ooh Las Vegas.
He has to be bowled over by some of this!

http://open.spotify.com/user/gollywollypogs/playlist/4boy1uYqiBgRRsKAoOL...

I'm greatly enjoying Paul Du Noyer's "In the City - A Celebration of London Music". Not least because of the interesting annd eclectic list of 140 recommended tracks - music of and about London.
There are some odd choices. For instance I assume In the City is chosen instead of Down in the Tube Station at Midnight because it's the book title. However, the main joy of this kind of list is to compare and contrast with your own choices and it would be dull if there was nothing to disagree with.
So, anyway - what music evokes London for you?
I've started a spotify playlist
http://open.spotify.com/user/gollywollypogs/playlist/0j45MFKq3QzdX65Sg3u...
with a selection of Mr Du Noyer's choices and added Al Stewart's Soho (Needless to Say) which takes me back to my wide-eyed teens when i spent a day doing the rounds with my very new (tax collector) husband and was taken for a new client by a dodgy doctor...
Please add your choices if you can and more importantly, tell us why right here.