Twenty articles concerning the impact of the coming space age on mankind written by the former chairman of the British Interplanetary Society and one of the most imaginative, scientifically oriented writers of space literature today. Writing with a truly universal perspective spiced with wry humor, the author gives informed speculations and reports on life on other planets, the similarities of skin-diving to space travel, human powered flight, a Martian's description of Earth, scientific evidence for the Star of Bethlehem, vacationing on Mars and the Moon, the "storing" of human beings for future duplication, the nature of flying saucers, moon geography, radio stars and the possibility of human evolutions among other subjects. All of this is in a wonderful mixture of easily assimilated astronautics, physics, astronomy, meteorology and magnetohydrodynamics. Most of these articles have appeared in Holiday, Horizon and Harpers, and gathering them in book form can only be a boon to anyone with the slightest interest in future space travel. Commenting that the shadow of coming space events is nearer to us now than the battle of Gettysburg, Mr. Clarke offers the layman a challenging conception of yet another potential of the roaring atomic age. This has broader appeal than his other books which are already standbys in bookstores and libraries.
Pub Date: June 15, 1959
ISBN: 0671821393
Page Count: 222
Publisher: Harper & Row
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1959
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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