Fisher (who died earlier this year) is best known as a food-writer, but, whatever the subject, almost all her writing has been reminiscence. In this collection of bite-sized snippets—some food-centered, most not, and many prefaced by graceful little observations that cast the items as examples of some more general small troths—she recalls scenes and motifs, redolent of other times and attitudes and social conditions, from her Whittier, California, childhood and adolescence. Fisher looks back with quivering fondness on the tiny milestones in her "epicurean education," recalling (under the characteristic title "A Sweet and Timeless Shudder") the "voluptuous stickiness" of Turkish delight enjoyed at Saturday matinees. But she also casts in the same warm glow the spankings administered by a loved and loving father; her contacts with a succession of live-in household helpers; the joy in spring of changing from wool to cotton underwear; and, in an unconsciously patronizing piece, her family's odd behavior toward the local "young dried-up librarian." The longest piece recalls with more conscious rue a sort-of friendship with a classmate—a Mexican child and the "bad girl" of first grade—whom Fisher and others treated insensitively;, the last reproduces 1927 diary entries (when Fisher was 18) of interest only to a smitten Fisher-following. In one sketch, Fisher describes the "small sensual spree" an uncle made of the dining-car intervals on his transcontinental train trips. That phrase as aptly describes Fisher's own approach to life, amply detailed here.
Pub Date: Nov. 30, 1992
ISBN: 0-679-41576-9
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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