Not what he said

Re “This Just In: The Fab Four Ruined Rock,” June 11: Erik Himmelsbach’s generally fair review of my new book, “How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ‘n’ Roll,” ends with a completely inaccurate attack: He writes, “We’ve sifted hundreds of pages before the author blows everything to bits,” but then, rather than quoting anything from my final chapter -- which describes the Beatles’ effect on the pop world but says nothing negative about their music -- he quotes a section from the introduction that was clearly framed as expressing the view of a “small world of music nuts” who regard the Beatles as wimpy, arty middlebrows.

Despite its controversial title, my whole book is based on the contention that it is time to attempt a nonjudgmental survey of pop music. So it is extremely misleading to cite views I ascribed to my more judgmental predecessors as my own, much less to write that these views form the conclusion of my work.

Elijah Wald

Los Angeles