“'The Sopranos' gets praised as novelistic, but it follows the most banal of life patterns, showing the sheer tedium of being a mobster. It has dead spots, boring plotlines, weak episodes. Characters develop slowly, or don't. Like viewers, a gangster might get bored, fade out of the action, then come back to find none of his debts forgotten.”

American music journalist and author

Rob Sheffield is an American music journalist and author. He is known for writing about music with a close, personal voice that connects criticism, memory, and pop culture. His work appears in print as both journalism and books. He writes about songs and the culture around them, drawing on the perspective of a long-time music critic and writer.