English astrophysicist Gribbin (Timewarps, White Holes, etc.) proves once again that he is a lucid and fluent expositor to lay readers. But there is some sleight-of-hand here. In this volume, says Gribbin, he wants to dwell on the anomalies of space in an Einsteinian universe: matter disturbs the smooth flatness of the terrain, producing the gravity wells or warps predicted by general relativity theory. However, these are but foils that allow Gribbin to introduce those major distortions of space—wells that close in upon themselves: the black holes. Once they are encountered and possible candidates detailed, they provide a springboard by which to describe white dwarfs and other assemblages of compacted matter, along with the evolution of stars. The material covered, in the end, is much the standard fare we meet in other contemporary surveys of cosmology/astrophysics—including Gribbin's. A new wrinkle, possibly, is his idea that the present universe may be a black hole turned inside out. Whether or not the universe will continue to expand ad infinitum, or contract back to the ultimate singularity that was the Big Bang, becomes food for thought on the amount of mass in the universe. Some calculations suggest that perhaps 90 percent of the mass may be undetectable—black holes not near enough to perturb visible masses. Some authorities, Gribbin admits, find this an off-putting thought: astronomers, after all, like to think that their domain is investigatable. Apparently such conjectural invisibility does not daunt Gribbin (a theorist), nor one of his most admired contemporaries, Stephen Hawkins, who has spawned a theory of miniblack holes. As a variation on Gribbin's and other recent popularizations, the book is fine—just remember you may have read it elsewhere already.
Pub Date: Nov. 11, 1983
ISBN: 0385293666
Page Count: 232
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1983
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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