A slovenly, vicious biography of singer/guitarist/songwriter Reed, whose brilliant '60s work with the Velvet Underground and solo career merit more sensitive scrutiny. Andy Warhol junkies will be familiar with the first part of the story, which has been told more skillfully elsewhere: Reed grew up on Long Island, studied at Syracuse University with poet Delmore Schwartz, worked briefly as a contract songwriter for a cheesy record company, and in 1965 fell in with John Cale, Maureen Tucker, and fellow Syracuse alumnus Sterling Morrison to form the trailblazing Velvet Underground. Warhol's patronage brought the Velvets notoriety, but they sold few records, and Reed left the band in 1970. His subsequent solo output has ranged from the sublime to the inexplicable (Metal Machine Music was an hour of white noise); his songs have documented his fluctuating sexuality and drug use and his apparent straightening out on both counts. Bockris (Keith Richards, 1992, etc.) opens luridly with an account of Reed receiving shock treatments at age 17 to cure him of homosexual tendencies, but Reed's psyche eludes him; Bockris repeatedly refers to an obviously flippant (unsourced) comment by Reed that he had eight personalities as if it were a psychiatric diagnosis. Reed is portrayed as unrelentingly cruel and selfish, tormenting his family, friends, bandmates, and romantic partners. In Bockris's eagerness to quote enemies and bad reviews, he omits basic facts. (His source list says his own book about the Velvets was ``indispensable''; Reed did not speak to him for this book.) And Bockris is no prose stylist: ``Now, at the end of the troubled, trembling 1993, he had plummeted from being one of theif not themost venerated, for all of the right reasons, figures in his field to coming across like a small-minded wart.'' Bockris's animosity and prurience produce no insights into either the man or his music.
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-684-80366-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1995
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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