Atmospheric Noise: The Indefinite Urbanism of Los Angeles By Marina Peterson. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2021.

Abstract

mentors like Jimmy Vaughan from the narrative. Mack’s careful analysis reveals the ways in which apprenticeships both function and are obscured in blues traditions. By incorporating autobiographical storytelling into the concept of blues, this book is a groundbreaking work that will be foundational for scholars of blues, popular music, American studies, Black studies, and media studies. The book is aimed at scholarly audiences, but the writing is accessible and engaging enough for advanced undergraduates and general audiences. Mack’s work offers a new analytical frame for considering who can participate in blues and how, while simultaneously locating and challenging reductive tropes and exploitative and appropriative participants. This work could be built upon by future scholars to include how the blues industry—including blues labels, nonprofits, blues societies, and the blues radio and festival circuit—factors into these conversations.