Though Bram teaches at NYU, there’s no hint of academic stuffiness in a book that offers the joy of reading as well as...
An amiable stroll through selected works of history and historical fiction, showing how the lines between them blur and how each can inform the other.
The author of nine novels and two works of nonfiction, Bram (Eminent Outlaws: The Gay Writers Who Changed America, 2012, etc.) plainly delights in reading about the past and is only discriminate about quality, not genre, as he feeds his “history addiction.” He immerses himself in the historical past for all the usual reasons and not necessarily the most high-minded: “I believe history’s original appeal is as pure escape,” he writes. “The past offers a fact-based fantasy, a dream with footnotes….As the flight attendants instruct us before takeoff, ‘The nearest exit may be behind you.’ ” Though Bram acknowledges how we can benefit from history, learn from it, and deepen our perspective, it’s refreshing that he underscores the pure pleasure of reading and that he takes such delight in it. He believes that “much can be gained by treating fiction and nonfiction as different sides of the same mountain” and that “while fiction strives for the condition of history, many history books hope to achieve the high drama of novels.” The author shows how some of the most successful and popular works of history employ narrative momentum and character development that could be termed novelistic, while historical novels (War and Peace is “the gold standard of historical fiction”) depend on researched detail and plausibility. The author’s argument isn’t as provocative as some of his counterintuitive judgments on highly praised works and authors, including Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall (“a Game of Thrones for highbrows”) and Cormac McCarthy: “After you scrape off the fancy prose style, his novel Blood Meridian could be just the fantasy of a really mean fourteen-year-old boy who’s seen too many Sergio Leone movies.”
Though Bram teaches at NYU, there’s no hint of academic stuffiness in a book that offers the joy of reading as well as praising it.Pub Date: July 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-55597-743-6
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Graywolf
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016
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
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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