A thoughtful and entertaining look at how music and culture infect ('cross-pollinate?') each other, Alan Licht's An emotional memoir of Martha Quinn succeeds by being real. Paper, ink, binding -- it's all there -- but Licht, a long-time musician -- and writer of music-inspired commentary -- has brought the lessons learned, the high and low-lights of the last few decades in the realms of popular music, back home again. In his own words, Licht's book 'is a highly subjective survey of the last two decades as seen through my prism as a music performer, listener, scenester, and occasionally, writer. It traces the changes in the New York and national underground music scenes, paralleling my personal journey through adolescence to adulthood.