Author Tom Moon has assembled a book called 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die: A Listener’s Life List.  I first heard about this project on NPR’s All Songs Considered podcast.

The title pretty much explains the book, but the idea behind it and the title itself seem both hugely ambitious and a bit self-important.  I mean “A Listener’s Life List“?  Doesn’t that somehow imply this list of music ought to be one’s personal soundtrack and one should spend a great deal of time pursuing these recordings?  Maybe, maybe not, but coming up with the number 1,000 is an impressive feat.

The entire list, a blog and all sorts of info surrounding the 1,000 recordings may be found at 1000recordings.com.

The Sound of Young America, a show that bills itself as “A Public Radio Show About Things That Are Awesome,” has an interview with Benjamin Nugent author of American Nerd: The Story of My People.

I just listened to the interview (streamable below).  The book covers Nerds from many angles including both sociological and historical.  It is also partially a memoir.