Knowledgeable but occasionally arcane collection of essays celebrating the Golden Age of ``old-time'' southern fiddling (192555). Old-time fiddling has an honored place in American culture and history: The industrialist Henry Ford recognized this and marshaled his resources to spark a revival of the art and to promote traditional values. Wolfe (coauthor, The Life and Legend of Leadbelly, 1992) originally published most of these essays in The Devil's Box, a magazine about old-time fiddling. (The fiddle was sometimes called the devil's box, Wolfe notes, ``because some thought it was sinful to play one.'') Like the magazine, this book caters to those with a substantial interest and knowledge in the field. Most of the essays take a scholarly approach to such things as discographies of unreleased ``sides'' by classic fiddlers or resolving the composition credit for ``The Black Mountain Rag.'' Those already familiar with fiddling giants such as Eck Robertson, Uncle Jimmy Thompson, Fiddlin' Powers, Doc Roberts, Clayton McMichen, Bob Wills, and Arthur Smith will find the level of detail satisfying; others, especially nonfiddlers, may feel awash in facts. However, there are revealing anecdotes throughout: Arthur Smith, for instance, once showed up for a photo session for the Grand Ole Opry in a suit and was forced to change into rural clothes (a more appropriate look, it was thought, for a country musician) and pose in a pigpen. The idiosyncratic Smith also once dynamited a fishing hole to guarantee himself a good catch. The great Clark Kessinger learned a few chops from the classical violinist Szigeti. Fiddling contests, the history of the Opry, and the early days of recorded country music are well covered. The collection provides a valuable storehouse of fiddling history, but copious research is generally undistilled. Not for the layperson. (13 b&w photos, not seen)
Pub Date: April 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-8265-1283-6
Page Count: 258
Publisher: Vanderbilt Univ. Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
IN THE NEWS
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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