Not so much “wildly distorted,” it turns out, as disjointed and unfocused.
Booker-winning novelist Carey (The True History of the Kelly Gang, 2001, etc.) turns in a “distorted” tour of Sydney during last year’s Olympic Games.
Though this “Writer and the City” series promises musings from well-regarded writers on “the city they know best,” Carey is originally from Melbourne, and didn’t live in that “vulgar crooked convict town” of Sydney until he was almost 40—and most of the time since, he has lived as a resident alien in New York. With the idiosyncratic notion of describing Sydney in terms of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, Carey spends his 30 days with old cronies, architects and artists for the most part, all grown older, their wildness mostly behind them. His friends tell good stories, and through them Carey offers bits and pieces of the essence of Sydney: a little-known eccentric who painted “Eternity” in hundreds of unlikely places; sailors reliving the disastrous Sydney-to-Hobart race of 1998; how to catch a kingfish; and most appealingly, the story of Sheridan, an ex-hippie soap-opera writer who has holed himself up in a cave in the austere Blue Mountains to write a novel. (The Olympics are mostly ignored, regarded mainly as an intrusion.) Carey weaves in the history of Sydney’s founding: the unsuitability of the land for farming; the absence of lime (needed to make mortar for laying bricks); the abuse of aborigines by the convict settlers, who were themselves abused. That convict history still informs the Australian character, Carey says, an observation commonly made. Carey’s style is a pleasure, but his point is a bit hard to make out, unless one wants to take his effort as a long prose poem—an approach to travel-writing not likely to find many readers.
Not so much “wildly distorted,” it turns out, as disjointed and unfocused.Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2001
ISBN: 1-58234-166-4
Page Count: 250
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2001
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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