This was written near 50 years ago now, a series of short chapters - almost columns - by a young critic on the development of pop music. It's pop criticism for pop music, essentially, and not objective at all but that's the charm. Cohn's focus is always brought back to how pop music has affected him, how it makes him feel, and his judgment of the various successes and failures of groups and songs is intensely personal, and often has nothing to do with how well they've been received by other people in general. The book can in some places feel like a fleshed-out list rather than a sustained argument for anything, but the real appeal of this is in Cohn's voice, which is just so accomplished. It's a mix of passion and cynicism and really biting, skewering wit, and it's very entertaining to read.