Promotional Information

A comprehensive collection of essays on the long history of Detroit music by some of America's best-known music writers.

About the Author

M. L. Liebler is an award-winning poet, literary arts activist, and professor. He is the author of several books of poetry, including I Want to Be Once (Wayne State University Press, 2016), and an editor of the anthology Working Words: Punching the Clock and Kicking Out the Jams. He is also co-editor of Bob Seger's House: An Anthology of Michigan Fiction (Wayne State University Press, 2016). He has taught at Wayne State University since 1980.

Reviews

Heaven Was Detroit is a valuable collection whose diversity is, like the city itself, one of its greatest strengths.--Joshua S. Duchan "The Michigan Historical Review"

[. . .] Detroit finally has the consummate tome that brings together all the disparate strands of its towering musical legacy that have faded forever into the recesses of time. . . . Motor City nuts can only swoon.--Kris Needs "Shindig Magazine"

An incredible book. Comprehensive, panoramic, and makes a case for Detroit being the greatest music city in the US. Which it isn't. And that's how good this book truly is, raising the point --why isn't there a book like this for EVERY city in the US?--Steve Wynn "singer/songwriter/guitarist of the Dream Syndicate"

Heaven Was Detroit captures the essence of the Detroit music scene: the grit, the spark, the desire to tell a story set to the rhythm of the city. Fans of any music genre will nd something that speaks to them in the pages of this collection.--Aisha K. Staggers "BookTrib"

Impressively researched, written, organized and presented [ . . . ]--Michael J. Carson "Midwest Book Review"

M. L. Liebler curates an exhaustive collection of essays about Detroit music by a diverse group of music scholars, journalists, and musicians. Instead of relying on familiar narratives about Motown and rock and roll, this anthology engages a vast array of musical genres and sub-genres, while sharing the oft-surprising hidden histories of artists, institutions, and communities integral to Detroit's unique sound.--Kimberly Mack "New Books Network"

M.L. Liebler's shares his deep insights and passion for Detroit culture in this new anthology that assembles the A-list of music historians and storytellers from the one of the world's great musical cities. It will help shine the international spotlight on Detroit's valuable role in shaping some of the most significant music styles of the 20th and 21st centuries from Jazz and Blues to R&B, Rock, Rap and Techno.--Judy Adams

The musical terrain surveyed in the nearly 70 pieces is as vast as the city itself. . . . Readers will find insightful writing on already famous artists such as John Lee Hooker, Marvin Gaye, Bob Seger, the MC5, Eminem and Kid Rock. But equal space is devoted to forgotten or overlooked arcana . . .--Troy Reimink "Detroit Free Press"