An original idea well executed by an expert who writes with engaging, accessible prose.
A delightful study on how to understand a war by listening to the music of the era.
Andresen, a history professor at Lake Superior College, has obsessively collected vinyl records, tapes and CDs for decades. Part of his collection is focused on music about war, supplemented by music not directly about war but played frequently on radio stations during wartime and thus psychologically associated with victory and defeat on the battlefield. Because of his age and personal interest, the Vietnam War became his specific focus. Eventually, he designed a college course centered on Vietnam War music, playing and explicating songs in the classroom. Andresen divides the songs creatively into music of protest, music of patriotism, African-American music (which includes examples of protest, patriotism and in-between), music of combat and music about the war's aftermath. All wars involving the United States have been defined to some extent by music, he says, but music played an especially significant role in Vietnam, partly because of technological considerations such as portable tape players and far-reaching broadcast signals. Andresen subscribes to the belief that Vietnam became the nation's first rock-and-roll war. Throughout this well-organized book, he makes intriguing connections, such as Stephen King's Vietnam novel Hearts in Atlantis being inspired by a Donovan song, or the names of Allied gun ships being derived from Peter, Paul and Mary's seemingly innocuous children's tune "Puff the Magic Dragon." Especially useful is the Discography, listing Vietnam-era songs of overweening importance, organized alphabetically by singer. Though marred somewhat by the author's inclusion of a chapter titled "Travels With Battle Notes"–in which he recounts his travels promoting the book–Andresen redeems himself with an Afterword discussing the controversies surrounding his idiosyncratic song selections.
An original idea well executed by an expert who writes with engaging, accessible prose.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 1-886028-60-5
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
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