A charming, approachable, and thoroughly researched exploration for McCartney fans and novices alike.
A debut guide examines the life and works of former Beatle and prolific music icon Paul McCartney by diving into his song catalog.
Lifelong McCartney fan Styburski begins his book with an introduction explaining his love of the songwriter and the Beatles as well as acknowledging the already extensive writings on the band that exist. But he posits that many McCartney-focused features rarely explore his body of work beyond the 1960s and often pay little attention to the quality of the man’s music itself. “So many of us have loved the Beatles for so long,” the author asserts, “that we might forget…that their lives wouldn’t be of interest if we hadn’t fallen first and foremost for their songs.” What follows is Styburski’s own attempt to engage “the casual fan” in a primer on the context, reception, and legacy of McCartney’s enormous catalog. In neither chronological nor alphabetical order, but rather in a relaxed and organic progression, the volume dives into not just the Beatles’ hits, but also songs from McCartney’s time with the band Wings, his solo work, and his collaborations with artists like Elvis Costello and Michael Jackson. The book also dissects more obscure offerings that have enticed McCartney devotees for decades. Along the way, Styburski injects anecdotes (alternatively cheeky, self-deprecating, and deeply sincere) about his own life and connection to the music he’s dissecting. With a pleasant voice and surprising wells of empathy, the author clarifies the details and nuances of McCartney’s tumultuous relationships with his ex–band mates as well as figures like his former wife Heather Mills and record label executive Allen Klein without ever coming across as uncharitable or overly protective of the guide’s subject. Also discussed with great care are the tragedies that have shaped the musician’s songwriting over time, from the death of his mother to the murder of John Lennon and the loss of McCartney’s first wife, Linda. Throughout, Styburski gives readers an unbiased and thoughtful analysis of McCartney’s personality, his flaws, and, most of all, his influences and growth as both a songwriter and industry legend.
A charming, approachable, and thoroughly researched exploration for McCartney fans and novices alike.Pub Date: July 31, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-578-90799-4
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Mmm Pie Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
PERSPECTIVES
Alternately admiring and critical, unvarnished, and a closely detailed account of a troubled innovator.
A warts-and-all portrait of the famed techno-entrepreneur—and the warts are nearly beyond counting.
To call Elon Musk (b. 1971) “mercurial” is to undervalue the term; to call him a genius is incorrect. Instead, Musk has a gift for leveraging the genius of others in order to make things work. When they don’t, writes eminent biographer Isaacson, it’s because the notoriously headstrong Musk is so sure of himself that he charges ahead against the advice of others: “He does not like to share power.” In this sharp-edged biography, the author likens Musk to an earlier biographical subject, Steve Jobs. Given Musk’s recent political turn, born of the me-first libertarianism of the very rich, however, Henry Ford also comes to mind. What emerges clearly is that Musk, who may or may not have Asperger’s syndrome (“Empathy did not come naturally”), has nurtured several obsessions for years, apart from a passion for the letter X as both a brand and personal name. He firmly believes that “all requirements should be treated as recommendations”; that it is his destiny to make humankind a multi-planetary civilization through innovations in space travel; that government is generally an impediment and that “the thought police are gaining power”; and that “a maniacal sense of urgency” should guide his businesses. That need for speed has led to undeniable successes in beating schedules and competitors, but it has also wrought disaster: One of the most telling anecdotes in the book concerns Musk’s “demon mode” order to relocate thousands of Twitter servers from Sacramento to Portland at breakneck speed, which trashed big parts of the system for months. To judge by Isaacson’s account, that may have been by design, for Musk’s idea of creative destruction seems to mean mostly chaos.
Alternately admiring and critical, unvarnished, and a closely detailed account of a troubled innovator.Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: 9781982181284
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
© Copyright 2023 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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