Music criticism may be going the way of the CD in the Internet age, as critics no longer have much of a lead on fans in procuring new music, and fans have more platforms than ever to share their opinions directly with each other. We have, alas, become the squeezed-out middlemen.

But folks my age remember a time not so long ago when music critics were demigods, holy filters for the good, bad and the ugly.

So it still gives me a little chill when a guy like Robert Christgau — who’s been dubbed the “dean” of music criticism, with good reason — mentions my book.

Thanks to Michaelangelo Matos, the finest of a new generation carrying the critical torch, for hipping me to this one.