The noted American pianist receives an overlong popular biography, stuffed with irritating detail on virtually every page. Cliburn (b. 1934 as Harvey Lavan, Jr.), a wonderful talent in his chosen repertoire, is by all accounts a genuinely attractive character as well. Unfortunately, by page one hundred, Reich (an arts critic for the Chicago Tribune), has crossed so far over the line from legitimate admiration into hagiography that he risks making the reader despise his subject. Reich has apparently read every newspaper and magazine article about Cliburn and has interviewed everyone who's ever known him. Seemingly few have had anything unflattering to say about the man, and their fond remembrances and musical tributes are quoted at interminable length. From Cliburn's high-school high jinks to his wonder years at Juilliard, his early concert successes, his fabled first prize in the 1958 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow at the height of the cold war (an event that Reich sees as the beginning of the end of Communism 30-some years later), his subsequent international celebrity, his decade-long retirement from the concert stage, and his triumphant return—it's all here in suffocating detail. The names of judges and contestants at many competitions; the history of the teachers of his teachers. Where's the real person here? And if Cliburn finished second in a competition, the first prize winner and the competition are not-so-subtly trashed. Fortunately, the pianist is still alive, or the book would have to detail his resurrection. Even the annotated discography—probably the best thing here—is so uncritical (cf. John Ardoin's The Callas Legacy, 1977) that many music lovers will dissent from Reich's reverent appraisals of most every record. There's a legitimately interesting history here somewhere but, as written, it's strictly for the People crowd. Prospective Cliburnites are better advised to invest in the CD re-release of his legendary performances of Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto and Rachmaninoff's second. (Illustrations—16 pp. color & b&w—not seen) (First printing of 35,000)
Pub Date: May 15, 1993
ISBN: 0-8407-7681-0
Page Count: 448
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1993
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
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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