I can't praise this book highly enough. Andrew Chan pays close—even devotional—attention to Mariah Carey’s work, but maintains the critical distance needed to evaluate and historicize it. Combining the passion of the superfan with the analytical wit of our best cultural critics, Chan illuminates Carey’s art and legacy while raising the bar for future appraisals of women in pop.
~Emily J. Lordi
Virtuosos are the trickiest subjects: as they bespell you they shut you down, they put you on your hands and knees. Andrew Chan's criticism stands straight up. He reveres, but he also explains, connects, analyzes, elaborates; he helps us see Mariah Carey as a tradition, a code, and a curriculum.
~Ben Ratliff
Andrew Chan deconstructs the powerhouse that is Mariah Carey through exceptionally intimate writing, breaking her talent into its most fundamental elements. This book is an invaluable, deeply researched document of Carey as a pop anomaly, vocalist, songwriter, and creator in her own right.
~Clover Hope