A ruminatively enjoyable if familiar consideration of the failed promise of modernity.
A series of contemplative essays on the challenges posed by modernity, with particular emphasis on the United States.
Author David Bouchier (Not Quite a Stranger: Essays on Life in France, 2015, etc.) refuses to consider himself an intellectual, though he does seem comfortable with an “amateur philosopher.” In that spirit, he has composed a series of essays that occupy the cerebral space between scholarly cogitation and sophisticated correspondence, both accessible and meditatively thoughtful. The topics he covers are wide-ranging: education, sexual identity, consumer culture, and the necessary conditions of civilization. Still, there are at least two narrative threads that holds this eclectic assemblage of short pieces together: a defense of a principled skepticism and a diagnosis—he’s not pessimistic enough to perform an autopsy—of the diseased body that is modernity. The author considers this book a “contribution to the literature of skepticism,” and he defends the extreme philosophical caution of the skeptic against the hubristically confident claims of the “True Believer.” “What should stand in the way of dumb belief (but rarely does) is the awareness of our own ignorance. The number of things we don’t know is overwhelmingly vast.” Also, he writes with great passion and elegance about the failure of modernity, or the American dream that eventually transformed into an “international dream,” a sanguine optimism that progress will deliver us all from the pain and encumbrances of life. Its cataclysmic failure threw the world into an abyss of meaninglessness and ultimately substituted “apocalyptic pessimism” for cheerful hopefulness. Bouchier artfully combines lighthearted wit—he believes humor is the “only response” to the absurdity of human life—with analytical seriousness. For all his playfulness, this book radiates gravity, a profound concern with the fate of man. The author’s study lacks originality—there’s nothing here that will astonish the moderately belletristic reader—and it never seems to occur to Bouchier that some version of religion could be defended on rational grounds, a peculiar dogmatism for a principled skeptic. Still, this is a stylistically rendered and intelligent reflection on the foibles of contemporary life.
A ruminatively enjoyable if familiar consideration of the failed promise of modernity.Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-68471-025-6
Page Count: 174
Publisher: Lulu
Review Posted Online: Jan. 4, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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