A fast-paced bio that recounts how a middle-aged rock band gave the lie to the guy who said there are no second acts in American lives. Pop-music journalist Huxley (Rolling Stone, Billboard) traces Aerosmith's heady ascent to megastardom in the '70s, its commercial nosedive into a morass of drugs and alcohol in the early '80s, and its subsequent renascence on the wings of a management team savvy enough to guide the band's members to 12-step programs. While Aerosmith's long journey to sobriety is familiar, having been told ad nauseam in both the music and mainstream presses, Huxley does manage to render an accurate picture of the depths to which rich, pampered rock stars can sink. More affecting than the band's druggy war stories, however, are the glimpses into singer Steven Tyler's and guitarist Joe Perry's formative years. Born into middle-class families, both reached adolescence at the inception of the '60s rock revolution and jumped into music feet-first. Tyler grew up in New York City and was thrown out of high school in the early '60s after buying marijuana from an undercover narc; the rest of his education took place among musicians and freaks on the streets of Greenwich Village. The Boston-born Perry dropped out of prep school to pursue his muse while working in a factory. His comments on rock's impact on his teenage consciousness speak volumes: ``I'd wake up in the morning and I wouldn't drink any coffee or take any speed, I'd just put on Ten Years After's `Goin' Home' and I'd be up and moving for the rest of the day.'' Huxley's factual, lively account provides a good look at a rock band that narrowly escaped both burning out and fading away. (15 b&w photos, 8 pages color photos, not seen)
Pub Date: March 17, 1995
ISBN: 0-312-11737-X
Page Count: 256
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1995
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
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
