Novelist Dawn Powell is rediscovered in a kindly biography that also recalls the hard- drinking literati of Greenwich Village in the decades surrounding WWII. Powell came to New York City from Ohio in 1918. She left behind a scattered and troubled family who were the core of her most successful novels, including the popular My Home Is Far Away, published in 1944. What set Powell apart from the thousands of other eager and determined young people who invaded Manhattan was a sharp wit and an eye for character that was both humane and unflinching. On her arrival in the city, Powell took a series of rent-paying jobs (including a brief stint in the US Navy as a “Yeomanette”), but her writing began selling almost immediately. She also soon met and married advertising executive Joseph Gousha. Although Joe was an alcoholic and Dawn had frequent, albeit for the most part ephemeral, affairs, the marriage lasted 42 years, until Joe’s death. Their only child, Joseph Jr., called JoJo, was autistic, requiring constant attention, hospitalization, and eventually institutionalization. None of this kept Powell from writing—novels, short stories, articles, poems, and plays. Or plunging virtually nightly into the watering holes of Greenwich Village, where she held her own with contemporaries such as John Dos Passos (a good friend), and Gerald and Sara Murphy. Her novels received uneven reviews and for the most part mediocre sales, although she was regarded by critic Edmund Wilson and later Gore Vidal as one of the distinguished authors of her time. She died in 1965 and was buried in a pauper’s grave. A 1987 article by Vidal, published in the New York Review of Books, revived interest in her work and spurred biographer Page (a Pulitzer- winning music critic for the Washington Post and editor of a volume of Powell’s diaries); reprints of most of her novels are now available. Unconvincing in placing Powell at the forefront of mid-century authors, but gratifying to aficionados of New York City literary mores.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-8050-5068-X
Page Count: 348
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1998
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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