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THE HIP HOP YEARS

Name: THE HIP HOP YEARS
Author: Alex Ogg
ISBN: 0-88064-263-7

A HISTORY OF RAP

by Alex Ogg & DAvid Upshal ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2001

A timely demystifying of the subculture that took that last quarter-century by storm and is still going strong. (8 pp. color...

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Valuable insights into the history and intentions of hip hop, from music journalists Ogg and Upshal.

From its origins in the poor African-American neighborhoods of Harlem and the Bronx, hip hop has evolved into a commercial phenomenon of industrial proportions, dominating the charts and now commanding 11 percent of all music sales. The story is told here through the words of many of the participants, while Ogg and Upshal (writing in what one hopes is a self-mocking style) tie the quotes together. They do an excellent job of tracking the roots of the music—from Cab Calloway to Muhammad Ali’s ringside boastings to inner-city insult battles (in which “signifying, testifying, schoolyard and jailhouse rhyming all play a role in the aesthetics of urban verbal exchanges”). Early hip hop might have come out of a dangerously violent place, but it was a music—a whole culture, including art and fashion—that extolled creativity, political awareness, and (most importantly) inclusiveness, bringing people together for some joy in difficult circumstances. But, as the authors explain, hip hop is a house of many rooms, and gangsta rap came to epitomize the style because of the limelight it drew. Perhaps the most rewarding section here makes gangsta rap intelligible to those unfamiliar with its purpose. It wasn’t simply provocative posing, notes Ice Cube, of NWA: “It was done very unconsciously, because we were just being us. That’s how we dressed, that’s how we looked, that’s where we were from, that’s what was going on in our neighborhood.” Readers will gain a familiarity with the various rap landscapes, as well as the genesis of such notorious rappers as Eminem and 2 Live Crew.

A timely demystifying of the subculture that took that last quarter-century by storm and is still going strong. (8 pp. color photos, not seen)

Pub Date: May 1, 2001

ISBN: 0-88064-263-7

Page Count: 224

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2001

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.