A worthy companion to Alfred Kazin’s A Walker in the City and the American Institute of Architects guides to the...
A street-level celebration of New York City in all “its perpetual complexity and contradiction.”
Gotham, writes New York architecture critic Davidson, is a liquid city, “a stunningly obvious fact that for decades was almost forgotten,” strung across islands, inlets, and peninsulas. It is also, indeed, magnetic, a city that for centuries has drawn people of all kinds from all around the world and “for all different reasons,” the best of them having to do with art, though many regarding brutal commerce. Thus it is that New York might also now be seen as a liquid assets city, a place where the dollar and only the dollar decides. Touring the boroughs through a series of vigorous water-hopping walks—and there is no city better for walking, an activity that means “having no idea who will cross your path, what they believe, or how they will behave”—Davidson ventures casual asides that could easily turn into whole treatises: how is it that the Hanover Bank, named after the grandest royal family of Europe, could have been housed in so plain an edifice? How did it come about that the traffic-dodging Manhattanite now walks in one of the safest cities in the world for pedestrians, such that “being a flâneur in New York remains as intellectually invigorating as ever; it’s just no longer an extreme sport”? The author also examines the Grand Concourse, with its 11 auto lanes and spindly treed median—not the great promenade its creators envisioned so much as a speedway and sometimes parking lot. Davidson consistently writes with bright enthusiasm (“Is there any human activity that architecture can’t elevate?”), and he thankfully avoids the clots of postmodern jargon that so often burden books of contemporary criticism.
A worthy companion to Alfred Kazin’s A Walker in the City and the American Institute of Architects guides to the architecture of New York as well as a treat for fans of the metropolis.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-553-39470-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
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
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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