More convincing evidence that Wood is a unique literary critic: deeply informed, passionately committed, and unrelenting.
The veteran New Yorker book critic returns with a collection of erudite pieces dating to 1997.
Wood (Literary Criticism/Harvard Univ.; Upstate, 2018, etc.) offers another selection of his incisive work; only a half-dozen pieces here have not appeared in previous collections. Those familiar with the author’s style will not find much surprising in that regard. Throughout this latest gathering, we see indications of his vast reading, summaries (sometimes lengthy) of key works, connections to other works by other writers in other times and places, and a willingness to identify the good, the bad, the ugly, the best, and the greatest. In this volume, there is only one essay that is principally negative: a review of the writing of Paul Auster. “There are things to admire in Auster’s fiction,” writes Wood, “but the prose is never one of them, though he is routinely praised for the elegance of his sentences.” But other writers receive Wood’s deep appreciation: Saul Bellow (“probably the greatest writer of American prose of the twentieth century”), Dickens, Chekhov, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Orwell, Austen—these and others have earned Wood’s almost undiminished admiration. Other writers also come off well, with a mild reservation now and then (Virginia Woolf, Melville). As Wood’s readers well know, he delights in introducing them to new voices from places they probably didn’t expect—among them, Bohumil Hrabal (Czechoslovakia), László Krasznahorkai (Hungary), and Elena Ferrante (Italy). Wood, however, does not directly address the issue of reading in translation. Less literarily inclined readers will admire his personal essays, many of which are profoundly moving and/or eye-opening. These include an account of his move from England to the United States, a tribute to his late father-in-law’s library, and his electric appreciation and dissection of the drumming of The Who’s Keith Moon.
More convincing evidence that Wood is a unique literary critic: deeply informed, passionately committed, and unrelenting.Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-374-26116-0
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Dec. 1, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
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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