A few chapters from the lives of artists who have had richer and deeper books written about them.
The story of the musical collaboration between Eric Clapton and George Harrison, which sparked romantic melodrama and songs that have lasted far longer than the relationships that inspired them.
Anyone with a passing interest in rock gossip knows about Clapton’s infatuation with Pattie Boyd, the wife of his good friend Harrison and muse for “Layla,” which Clapton wrote for the Derek and the Dominoes album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. She also inspired the Harrison-penned Beatles song “Something.” But this book isn’t about that romantic triangle, except in passing; nor is it about the personal friendship of the musicians, a bond so deep it endured after the breakup of Harrison’s marriage and the marriage of Clapton and Boyd (which didn’t last). Music historians and Beatles experts Womack and Kruppa mostly look at the development of a musical relationship. Clapton played on Harrison’s songs, Harrison was featured on one of Clapton’s with Cream, and both left their respective bands within the musical upheaval of the end of the 1960s. The authors deliver laborious accounts of the recording of Harrison’s All Things Must Pass (on which Clapton appeared) and Derek and the Dominoes’ Layla, featuring musicians who had also contributed to the Harrison sessions. The narrative is only intermittently insightful in the critical sections, and the authors draw heavily on Clapton’s autobiography and the wealth of literature on Harrison and the Beatles. Readers won’t learn anything deeper about the friendship or the music of the early 1970s. This is more of a historical account, drawn from secondary sources, of minutiae from the recording of two landmark albums—who played on what and when, etc.—making it most appealing to die-hard Clapton and Harrison fans.
A few chapters from the lives of artists who have had richer and deeper books written about them.Pub Date: July 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64160-325-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.
Documenting perilous times.
In his most recent behind-the-scenes account of political power and how it is wielded, Woodward synthesizes several narrative strands, from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel to the 2024 presidential campaign. Woodward’s clear, gripping storytelling benefits from his legendary access to prominent figures and a structure of propulsive chapters. The run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is tense (if occasionally repetitive), as a cast of geopolitical insiders try to divine Vladimir Putin’s intent: “Doubt among allies, the public and among Ukrainians meant valuable time and space for Putin to maneuver.” Against this backdrop, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham implores Donald Trump to run again, notwithstanding the former president’s denial of his 2020 defeat. This provides unwelcome distraction for President Biden, portrayed as a thoughtful, compassionate lifetime politico who could not outrace time, as demonstrated in the June 2024 debate. Throughout, Trump’s prevarications and his supporters’ cynicism provide an unsettling counterpoint to warnings provided by everyone from former Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley to Vice President Kamala Harris, who calls a second Trump term a likely “death knell for American democracy.” The author’s ambitious scope shows him at the top of his capabilities. He concludes with these unsettling words: “Based on my reporting, Trump’s language and conduct has at times presented risks to national security—both during his presidency and afterward.”
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668052273
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
IN THE NEWS
PERSPECTIVES
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
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