Where did rock and roll come from? And what has it come to? These are the sorts of questions that cultural historian and veteran music journalist Jim Miller raises in his challenging new book about the rise -- and arrested development -- of rock and roll. Concentrating on the music in its early, formative decades, he explores how rock and roll was transformed from a joyous and sometimes earthy dance music in the 1940s into an abrasive, often angry art music by the end of the 1970s. Along the way, he celebrates a culture of youthful exuberance -- and critically analyzes how it was organized into a billion-dollar global industry.