Reliable and yet still surprising—the best of the best.
The 2007 edition of the now-venerable series.
With characteristic humor and self-abasement, guest editor Wallace is an excellent guide to this year’s goodie bag of magazine-length nonfiction, noting up front that most series readers jump around in a nonlinear fashion. Although he promises a sharper political edge to this year’s selections—and no celebrity profiles—only a few fall into that category. Phillip Robertson’s “In the Mosque of the Imam Ali,” a breathless account of the author’s attempt to survive in an Iraq hurtling into Year Zero ultra-violence, ranks with Michael Herr’s exemplary Vietnam War reportage. Mark Danner’s “Iraq: The War of the Imagination” is an excellent summation of the stunning mix of incompetence and hubris that led to the current war. There is also “An Orgy of Power,” George Gessert’s passionate screed against the brutalization of the American mindset in the post-9/11 era, and Garret Keizer’s controversial “Loaded,” in which he breaks the domestic liberal code of silence on guns and political action: “Give me some people who are not so evolved that they have forgotten what it is to stand firm under fire…Give me an accountant who can still throw a rock.” Even among the lighter pieces, there’s a darkness scurrying around the edges, like in Richard Rodriguez’s “Disappointment,” an illuminating essay on the state’s illusory dreamlands, or Malcolm Gladwell’s sublime New Yorker piece on Cesar “The Dog Whisperer” Millan, in which tales of simple obedience training carry a cutting psychoanalytic edge. Remarkably, this year’s collection contains no outright duds, though a few pieces maunder a bit (e.g., Mark Greif’s foggy dissertation on the commercialized eroticization of youth, “Afternoon of the Sex Children”). Among all these impressive essays, though, the best is Daniel Orozco’s extraordinary “Shakers,” which merges an earthquake’s progress with a series of snapshot takes on American travelers and loneliness (“The middle of nowhere is always somewhere for somebody”).
Reliable and yet still surprising—the best of the best.Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-618-70926-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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