From the author of The Invisible Woman: The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens (1991), another sprightly biography of an English actress with a famous lover. Dora Jordan (17611816) was the most famous comic actress of her day, a star of London's Drury Lane Theater for nearly 30 years, beloved by audiences for her vivacity, her charming singing voice, and the fine legs she displayed in her most popular roles, which usually called for her to play a woman impersonating a man. She became the mistress of William, third son of King George III, in 1791, but continued working—frequently lending money to the improvident prince—throughout her many pregnancies. The couple had ten children and lived in highly domestic comfort for 20 years before pressure from the royal family led William to discard Jordan in search of an appropriate marriage and legitimate heirs. Tomalin cogently traces the complicated sexual politics of the age, which winked at almost any excess committed by members of the aristocracy but did not extend the same leeway to a base-born actress, no matter how circumspectly she behaved as royal mistress. The author brings to life the lively, licentious 18th century in vivid sketches of its theaters, its social structure, and its political and sexual intrigues. (The material on Jordan's boss, playwright/theater manager Richard Brinsley Sheridan, is so good, one hopes she will devote her next book wholly to him.) Tomalin depicts Jordan as an appealing woman, devoted to her lover and children, but also a consummate professional who took pride in her work and made sure she was properly compensated. Forced by debts incurred by a son-in-law to abandon England and her career, Jordan died alone and broke in a Parisian suburb; the pages describing her last days are heartbreaking, fired by the warm sympathy for her subject the author has displayed throughout. An engaging, colorful portrait, in the best tradition of English popular history. (24 pages illustrations, 8 in color, not seen)
Pub Date: April 20, 1995
ISBN: 0-679-41071-6
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1995
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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