This Canadian naturalist's polemic shows humanity as abandoning a holistic natural order for a self-centered life as a rogue species. Humanity's initial step toward separating itself from wild nature was, in effect, to remake itself into the first domesticated species, argues Livingston (Environmental Studies/York University, Ontario; One Cosmic Instant, 1973, etc.). Just as domestic animals can no longer live the way their wild ancestors did, humans have interposed technology between themselves and nature. The price of this insulation from nature is high: a loss of sensory detail (especially in senses other than sight), homogenization of the human environment, and a sense of life as a competitive enterprise rather than a cooperative one. Citing the primate studies of Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall, Livingston contends that, in the natural world, aggression between members of the same species is so rare as to be pathological. He goes to some length to point out Darwin's (unconscious) adoption of the paradigms of market capitalism as the basis for his theory of natural selectioncreating a picture of nature that fit all the preconceptions of Victorian Englishmen. Livingston stresses the evidence for self-awareness in animals, removing the last barrier between ``higher'' and ``lower'' intelligence. But he also presents the evidence for a form of ``group consciousness'' in natureas in the simultaneous changes of direction of the members of a flock of birds. While Livingston takes potshots at a wide array of easy targets (colonialism, vivisection, fur hunters), he saves the heavy ammo for ``zero-order humanism'': the belief that any action can be justified if it serves the ultimate good of humanity. This way lies the destruction of what remains of the natural world. The problems Livingston sees are real enough, and he articulates them powerfully; but at the end, he has no answers other than somehow getting back in touch with our innate ``wildness.''
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1995
ISBN: 1-57098-058-6
Page Count: 228
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1995
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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