Author Guide · Music Writing
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To understand the men who collect the rarest blues records in the world, Amanda Petrusich learned to scuba dive, because one story had it that a Wisconsin record company had dumped its unsold 78s into a river. She spent years with collectors who would knock on strangers' doors asking whether there were any old records in the basement, and she started buying 78s herself. This guide covers all three of her books in order, and where to start.
By Lisanne Swart · 3 books · Music writing · 2007–2014 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Amanda Petrusich has published three books, all about music: Pink Moon (2007), a short book on Nick Drake's last album; It Still Moves (2008), a road trip through American roots music; and Do Not Sell at Any Price (2014), about the obsessive collectors of 78rpm records. The last is the one that crosses over to readers who do not usually read about music.
Where to Start with Amanda Petrusich
If you want the famous one
→ Do Not Sell at Any Price (2014).
If you want a road trip
→ It Still Moves (2008).
If you love Nick Drake
→ Pink Moon (2007).
All 3 Amanda Petrusich Books, in Order
Pink Moon
A short book in the 33⅓ series on Pink Moon, the spare 1972 album by the English singer Nick Drake, which sold almost nothing in his lifetime and found its audience decades later.
It Still Moves
Part travelogue and part cultural history: Petrusich drives through the places where American roots music was made, from gospel and bluegrass to country and folk, looking for what connects them to the musicians of her own generation.
Do Not Sell at Any Price
Petrusich spent years among the small, almost entirely male world of collectors hunting for the rarest pre-war blues and country 78s, followed them to flea markets and basements, learned to dive in search of records rumoured to lie in a river, and became a collector herself. NPR and Slate named it one of the best nonfiction books of 2014.
How Many Books Did Amanda Petrusich Write?
Three books between 2007 and 2014, all of them about music.
- Music — Pink Moon, It Still Moves and Do Not Sell at Any Price. Read the entries →
In What Order to Read Amanda Petrusich
Her books are not a series. Read in order, they move from a single album to a whole musical landscape to the people who preserved its oldest recordings.
A reading path
1. Do Not Sell at Any Price (2014)
2. It Still Moves (2008)
3. Pink Moon (2007)
Quick facts about Amanda Petrusich
- Works for
- The New Yorker, as a staff writer
- Teaches
- Writing at New York University's Gallatin School
- Fellowship
- Guggenheim Fellowship
- Education
- MFA, Columbia University
- Also wrote for
- Pitchfork, The New York Times, The Oxford American
- Books
- 3, from Pink Moon (2007) to Do Not Sell at Any Price (2014)
How Amanda Petrusich Writes: Inside the Obsession
Petrusich writes from among the people she describes. For Do Not Sell at Any Price she did not stay an outside observer of the collectors; she went with them on their hunts and caught the habit herself, which lets her explain the obsession from the inside.
She is also a critic, and she asks the uncomfortable questions: how a handful of collectors' tastes decided which early blues recordings survived, and so shaped what we now think pre-war blues sounded like.
Amanda Petrusich on the hunt for rare 78s, on Fresh Air
Listen to the interview on NPR's Fresh Air →
Amanda Petrusich talks to Fresh Air producer Sam Briger about Do Not Sell at Any Price, NPR, 2015.Frequently asked questions about Amanda Petrusich's books
How many books has Amanda Petrusich written?
Amanda Petrusich has published three books: Pink Moon (2007), It Still Moves (2008) and Do Not Sell at Any Price (2014).
What is Do Not Sell at Any Price about?
Do Not Sell at Any Price (2014) is about the collectors who hunt for the rarest 78rpm records of early blues and country music, and about how Petrusich became one of them.
Does Amanda Petrusich write for The New Yorker?
Yes. She is a staff writer at The New Yorker, where she writes about music.
Footnotes
- Amanda Petrusich — Wikipedia
- Amanda Petrusich — Guggenheim Foundation
- Do Not Sell at Any Price — Kirkus Reviews
Bibliography last verified 1 October 2026.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all hers.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
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