Although this collection is too much of a good thing, one can't help looking forward to subsequent volumes: Thompson is just...
Fear and loathing, aphorism and malediction, mischief and indigence, fill this galvanically gonzo collection of Thompson's early letters.
The omnipresence of telephones and e-mail probably ensure that Thompson (Songs of the Doomed, 1990, etc.) will be one of the last of the great letter writers. But even in more epistolary times, few could rival the approximately 20,000 missives to his name. He came of age in the early 1950s, a silver age of American literature when a writing life was still considered heroic, and colossi like Faulkner and Hemingway bestrode the earth. From an early age Thompson felt himself destined for similar literary greatness, and so he carefully made carbon copies of every letter he sent. Though the sheer bulk of this collection makes one wish he'd been a little less conscientious, there are some gems here. Thompson writes the kinds of letters most of us wish we had the guts to send. He brilliantly berates agents for rejecting his work, sends out rude, fantastical excuses to his creditors, applies insultingly for a variety of jobs, and even offers his services to Lyndon Johnson as the governor of American Samoa. Thompson is one of our great polemical stylists, and these letters reveal just how seriously he approached the craft of writing (belying his trademark hell-raising insouciance). He is also preoccupied with something that concerns many great artists: lack of funds. Almost every letter finds him trying to scrounge up money. Biographically, these letters take Thompson from his stint in the air force to his early attempts to break into journalism, following his peregrinations across the Americas and on to his first great success, his 1967 book on the Hell's Angels.
Although this collection is too much of a good thing, one can't help looking forward to subsequent volumes: Thompson is just so damned entertaining.Pub Date: June 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-679-40965-6
Page Count: 624
Publisher: Villard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1997
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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