Next book

THE JAZZ SCENE

Intelligently written and updated study of American jazz first published in Britain 30 years ago (under the pseudonym Francis Newton) by Marxist social historian Hobsbawm (Nations and Nationalism Since 1780, etc.). Though Hobsbawm has not changed his basic text in this first American edition—a history of jazz and then discursions on the jazz scene in the early 60's—he has added much new material, and the new text is often more spirited than the earlier. The new material first appeared in The New York Review of Books and The New Statesman, for which Hobsbawm is something of a jazz journalist or jazz historian. He begins with the prehistory of jazz, about which he is knowledgeable without being dense—although his slow start may cost him readers. It's hard to imagine a jazz player today reading this material, but it's not hard to pin down Hobsbawm's ideal readers: finger-snapping literati. The author exposes his likes and dislikes in his liveliest passages, and 30 years ago foresaw the spiritual ossification of Miles Davis, long before the musician buried his talent in fusion jazz. All the greats are covered in passing (Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday), while further space is given to Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, Thelonious Monk, Mahalia Jackson, and Sidney Bechet. Gunther Schuller's magnum opus, The Swing Era (1988), comes under fire for not swinging enough, despite its many pleasures (``some like it hot,'' Hobsbawm says, though a cool kettle himself). Perhaps Hosbawm's tastiest comments are about the business side and work ethics, where his historian's eye strips the jazz scene down to its commercial spine as the music moves from the countryside to the city and becomes professional. Without fail, the author shows, each new musical wave hardens into show biz. Podium chat backed by a snare drum's whispering percipience.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1993

ISBN: 0-679-40633-6

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Pantheon

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1992

Categories:
Next book

THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE

50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

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

Categories:
Next book

NUTCRACKER

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:
Close Quickview