Model, singer, and pop icon Nico was at the center of 60's hip, but when keyboardist James Young backed her up in the early 80's, a lifetime of heroin addiction had reduced her to a rude and demanding specter haunting the fringes of rock 'n' roll society. Here's Young's coarse and chaotic, entertaining and disconcerting, account of the final years of the Queen of the Junkies. Born in 1938 as Christa Paffgen, Nico was Berlin's top model at 17, soon working for Chanel in Paris and Ford in New York. After hanging out with the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, she was taken up by Andy Warhol, who made her the singer for the Velvet Underground (who weren't pleased, but Warhol paid the bills). While never a huge success, the Velvet Underground is widely acknowledged as the hippest band ever, and Nico's association with it created a small audience for her subsequent scattered singing career, managed in the 80's by eccentric rock entrepreneur ``Dr. Demetrius,'' who hired the author for a 1982 tour of Italy. For the next six years, Nico, Young, and the rest of the band performed for often disappointed audiences everywhere from L.A. to Australia to Prague to Japan, in tours ineptly planned by Demetrius and modified by Nico's need to score drugs. Joining them along the way were pop luminaries John Cale and Allen Ginsberg (``Ginsberg...was never really hip, being too much of a celebrant...He'd get excited and take off his clothes in the presence of people who were too cool to remove their Ray Bans''). Young's portrait of Nico is generous, considering the selfish single-mindedness of a career junkie, and his natural ear and eye render scathing takes on everyone else. Unevenly written and sometimes troubling—there are hints of scores settled here—but, still, a funny and engaging chronicle that puts you right on the tour bus, amid the clutter of drums and drugs and unwashed bodies.
Pub Date: Oct. 25, 1993
ISBN: 0-87951-504-X
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Overlook
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
Medrich's Cocolat (not reviewed) was a lavish collection of heart-stopping (in both senses) desserts. Does this assemblage of low-fat sweets (in most, less than 30% of the calories come from fat) mean she is lowering her decadent standards? Don't bet on it. As she sensibly points out in the introduction, changes in our eating habits have affected our palates too: These days, food with less fat just tastes better. Someone comparing her dense brownies made with unsweetened cocoa to standard brownies would probably note a difference without necessarily preferring one over the other. Mostly Medrich has skipped the losing battle of substitutions and makeovers (one exception, tiramisó with a cottage and cream cheese mixture in place of mascarpone, is sacrilegious). Instead, she's come up with a whole range of ingenious techniques- -from freezing mousses to make them fuller-tasting to adding doses of acidic dairy products to tenderize baked goods—to create a range of original sweets. Frozen hot chocolate with low-fat milk is a snap, while a chocolate cake with three kinds of mousse takes over two hours to prepare. A final chapter gives recipes for new, low-fat versions of basics like pastry creams so that readers can try working Medrich's magic on their own favorites. Two quibbles: A fair number of non-chocolate options make the title misleading, and fussy old-fashioned tableware lends photographs the ambiance of Great-Aunt Martha's dining room. A toothsome revolution. (First serial to Food & Wine)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-446-51666-X
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1994
A less able recipe writer than Meyers (Perla Meyers' Art of Seasonal Cooking, 1991) might not have been able to make this wide selection fit together. She starts with a sound concept: Give a list of ingredients that people should have on hand in their pantries, then provide recipes using those ingredients. The problem is that the pantry list gets much too long and includes produce that will not keep indefinitely. (According to Meyers's list, there are 11 vegetables and six fruits that the well-stocked home should not be without.) So maybe preparation won't be quite so spontaneous, but the food is charming. These dishes are mostly low- key cousins of the fussy nouvelle cuisine of the '80s, meaning that they incorporate ingredients like arugula and balsamic vinegar in simple preparations. A potato galette is a crispy, almost greaseless giant hash brown, and fresh tarragon in a goat cheese omelette is a welcome change from the more predictable chives. Recipes are no-nonsense, with substitutions suggested, and preparation and cooking times (almost all short) are very accurate. Desserts, in particular, are a varied and unusual lot, ranging from cherries baked in a red wine sauce to a frothy mousse made with coffee, mascarpone, and whipped cream. A life preserver for dealing with unexpected guests, although purchasing ingredients like candied ginger and garam masala may prove impractical. (50 illustrations, not seen)
Pub Date: Nov. 28, 1994
ISBN: 0-688-11009-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
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