Some readers may wish Kincaid had occasionally turned her sharp eye on high culture, just to counterbalance all the pop...
Now better known as a fiction writer, Kincaid (My Garden, 1999, etc.) here collects “Talk of the Town” pieces written for The New Yorker between 1978 and 1983, offering a witty, quirky look at life in the Big Apple as seen through the eyes of a young, hip woman.
The essays include Kincaid’s very first assignment, a report on Brooklyn’s West Indian Day Parade, as well as the much-talked-about “Expense Account” budget of a press conference breakfast and her final “Talk” piece depicting a recording industry party at Mr. Chow’s restaurant. In between there are myriad musings on concerts, promotional parties, famous people (Gloria Vanderbilt, Ed Koch, Richard Pryor, Sting), the Junior Miss pageant, and gatherings of policemen and hotel industry employees. There are also some unexpectedly moving pieces. One concerns a woman (Kincaid, of course) who rides a train from Cleveland to New York one snowy night. Another examines the difference between “early morning” in the West Indies (5:30 a.m.) and in Manhattan (8:30 a.m.), then reveals how a New York transplant from the West Indies fills the time until her friends and business acquaintances arise: by reading articles in women’s magazines “about Elizabeth Taylor’s new, simple life” and “watching the morning news for one whole hour.” Kincaid’s writing is casual and comfortable, laced with repetitive phrases that pack a wallop. Some of the essays once considered classics (i.e., a piece written in the style of a Nancy Drew mystery novel) don’t seem quite so clever anymore. But others retain the whimsical charm of the pre–Tina Brown New Yorker, as in Kincaid’s description of bow-tie–clad Sandy, the dog from the Broadway musical Annie, making public appearances and “looking sad-eyed, the way all dogs look when they are around people eating.”
Some readers may wish Kincaid had occasionally turned her sharp eye on high culture, just to counterbalance all the pop coverage, but her admirers (and those of the magazine) will find this an enjoyable diversion.Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2001
ISBN: 0-374-27239-5
Page Count: 254
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2000
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
