A narrative of the history of popular music through the lens of twenty pivotal hits at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, which began in 1958, reveals a remarkably fluid and connected story of music.

"Dylan, who began working on the book in 2010, offers a master class on the art and craft of songwriting. He writes over sixty essays focusing on songs by other artists, spanning from Stephen Foster to Elvis Costello, and in between ranging from Hank Williams to Nina Simone. He analyzes what he calls the trap of easy rhymes, breaks down how the addition of a single syllable can diminish a song, and even explains how bluegrass relates to heavy metal....