Among the scores of engrossing anecdotes, his brief and excruciating attempt at collaborating with actress Lindsay Lohan perfectly encapsulates the book’s greatest strengths. Summoned to New York City by ex-American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi (who was producing an album for Lohan), Walker was left to work in the studio with DioGuardi while Lohan painted the town seven shades of red. When Lohan shows up a day late with a cartoonish entourage and a mysterious inability to sing, Walker’s account of the ensuing chaos is nose-clearingly funny. From his description of her stereotypical posse to the abject hysteria punctuating Lindsay’s first attempt to sing (it is so bad that they summon a doctor- literally), Walker delivers witty observations that are peppered with empathy, self-awareness (“I now understood how I had failed the karma exam: this is exactly what I had asked for”), and loads of valuable nuggets about how mainstream music is produced.
