Luminous writing that reveals a sweeping intelligence and a capacious heart.
Pamuk (Istanbul: Memories in Literature, 2005, etc.), the 2006 Nobel Laureate in Literature, offers an eclectic collection of more than 75 pieces—interviews, acceptance speeches, affecting fiction, memories, meditations and tributes and more.
Although the author composed these wide-ranging pieces over a span of decades (dates would have been helpful), a number of common themes emerge—the conflicts he has experienced as a “Westernized” Turk, the ever-diminishing population of readers of literary fiction, the fragility of life. He writes of the 1999 earthquake that killed 30,000 of his countrymen in mere seconds. He revisits his own routines and strategies as a writer: He writes ten hours a day, prefers absolute solitude and prepares detailed outlines for his fiction, sometimes composing chapters out of sequence. In an essay that recently appeared in the New Yorker, he writes lovingly of his daughter, who gets more enjoyment out of a strange dog than a dramatic scenic view. Periodically, he chides procrustean political authorities—in Turkey and elsewhere (“freedom of thought and expression are universal human rights”)—and describes some dismaying experiences with the American legal system, including an anxiety-ridden testimony against some New York muggers. He counterpoises an eloquent essay about his first visit to the Big Apple in 1986 with repeated references to his profound affection for Istanbul, where he has lived all his life (b. 1952). He tips his cap to numerous other writers who influenced him—Faulkner, Mann, Hemingway, Proust—and makes us wonder: Did he read every major work of fiction in his teens? He even includes a piece right out of an elementary-school teacher’s lesson plan: “Class, look at this drawing and write as if you were one of the figures in it.” The stunning paragraph from his Nobel acceptance speech about why he writes is worth the cover price alone.
Luminous writing that reveals a sweeping intelligence and a capacious heart.Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-307-26675-0
Page Count: 420
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2007
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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