A delightful and argute collection from a talented stylist.
A collection of mini-essays from one of England’s finest writers.
The winner of the 2010 Man Booker Prize, Jacobson (Shylock Is My Name, 2016, etc.) returns with his second collection of weekly opinion pieces from the now-defunct Independent. He writes that his goal with these brief essays, most less than three pages long, was to “entertain in a spirit of high seriousness,” to “glide seamlessly between Rabelais and George Eliot.” For 18 years, he hoped they “might surprise and energise, and would give pleasure.” They have indeed. An ever gorgeous and witty writer with his own fierce opinions, Jacobson runs the gamut from Matisse, Leonard Cohen’s fedora, and Andy Murray to children’s literature, table tennis, and the “wise decision” of shooting Osama bin Laden. For American readers, a number of these columns are rather British-centric, yet even those can be enjoyed in a pleasant ignorant haze. The title piece is a tender, bittersweet reflection on what the author surmises is the final walk of a “black Labrador as old as Methuselah” who lifts his “handsome head to smell the air one last time.” Then it’s off to a discussion of darts, “the last refuge of the serious.” Delving into erotica, he notes that “Henry James wrote hotter novels than Jackie Collins.” Another graceful piece laments the death of a superb, “irreplaceable” Italian tailor. There’s an amusing discourse on the "wonderful" Wisden, the 1,500-page “cricketers’ almanack,” and another on the time when Jacobson discovered “despondent hedonism” while listening to Peggy Lee singing “Is That All There Is?” Regarding food, Indian cuisine is the most “intrinsically ceremonial.” It isn’t all sweetness and light, thanks to harsh words about Margaret Thatcher, governmental surveillance, and the invasion of Iraq, but the author seems more at home opining on such topics as why Macbeth is “the most interesting murderer in literature.”
A delightful and argute collection from a talented stylist.Pub Date: July 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4088-4528-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2017
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
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BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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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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