A must-have for admirers of the band and a good choice to fans of bar rock.
A colorful montage of stories about and photographs of American rock band The Hold Steady, by both members of the group as well as dedicated fans.
“The Hold Steady didn’t change my life, it is my life,” writes the band’s frontman, Craig Finn, in the introduction. “And if you’ve read this far, it’s likely yours too.” The band formed in 2003, when Finn moved from Minnesota to New York City following the breakup of his and guitarist Tad Kubler’s previous band, Lifter Puller. This book’s publication coincides with The Hold Steady’s 20th anniversary. “We’re all about to hit fifty or well into our fifties,” says guitarist Steve Selvidge, “so there’s not a lot of room for bullshit or drama at this point.” Much of the “the gospel” features new interviews—compiled by Hann, a former music editor at the Guardian, to read as conversational dialogue—with band members, notably Finn, Kubler, and bassist Galen Polivka: “It was never a chore to practice,” says Finn, “because we were gonna get a bunch of beer and have a party with the instruments on”; “If you put that much booze into people who are having fun,” Polivka says, “it’s going to invariably get weird”; “We’re terrible communicators,” notes Kubler, “and I think part of it is just being a bunch of guys from the Midwest who are not comfortable talking about how they feel.” The text covers the band’s history, loyal following, and plenty of alcohol. Chapters of dialogue are interspersed with a handful of reverential essays by music journalists, including Rob Sheffield and Hann, who writes, “The Hold Steady no longer spend shows drinking like they’re at a Hold Steady show.” The book closes with dozens of testimonials from devotees—e.g., “Their shows were the closest I’d come to a religious experience.”
A must-have for admirers of the band and a good choice to fans of bar rock.Pub Date: July 25, 2023
ISBN: 9781636140957
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Akashic
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular...
A neurosurgeon with a passion for literature tragically finds his perfect subject after his diagnosis of terminal lung cancer.
Writing isn’t brain surgery, but it’s rare when someone adept at the latter is also so accomplished at the former. Searching for meaning and purpose in his life, Kalanithi pursued a doctorate in literature and had felt certain that he wouldn’t enter the field of medicine, in which his father and other members of his family excelled. “But I couldn’t let go of the question,” he writes, after realizing that his goals “didn’t quite fit in an English department.” “Where did biology, morality, literature and philosophy intersect?” So he decided to set aside his doctoral dissertation and belatedly prepare for medical school, which “would allow me a chance to find answers that are not in books, to find a different sort of sublime, to forge relationships with the suffering, and to keep following the question of what makes human life meaningful, even in the face of death and decay.” The author’s empathy undoubtedly made him an exceptional doctor, and the precision of his prose—as well as the moral purpose underscoring it—suggests that he could have written a good book on any subject he chose. Part of what makes this book so essential is the fact that it was written under a death sentence following the diagnosis that upended his life, just as he was preparing to end his residency and attract offers at the top of his profession. Kalanithi learned he might have 10 years to live or perhaps five. Should he return to neurosurgery (he could and did), or should he write (he also did)? Should he and his wife have a baby? They did, eight months before he died, which was less than two years after the original diagnosis. “The fact of death is unsettling,” he understates. “Yet there is no other way to live.”
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular clarity.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8129-8840-6
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
PERSPECTIVES
“Protect your passion,” writes an NBA star in this winning exploration of how we can succeed in life.
A future basketball Hall of Famer’s rosy outlook.
Curry is that rare athlete who looks like he gets joy from what he does. There’s no doubt that the Golden State Warriors point guard is a competitor—he’s led his team to four championships—but he plays the game with nonchalance and exuberance. That ease, he says, “only comes from discipline.” He practices hard enough—he’s altered the sport by mastering the three-point shot—so that he achieves a “kind of freedom.” In that “flow state,” he says, “I can let joy and creativity take over. I block out all distractions, even the person guarding me. He can wave his arms and call me every name in the book, but I just smile and wait as the solution to the problem—how to get the ball into the basket—presents itself.” Curry shares this approach to his craft in a stylish collection that mixes life lessons with sharp photographs and archival images. His dad, Dell, played in the NBA for 16 years, and Curry learned much from his father and mother: “My parents were extremely strict about me and my little brother Seth not going to my pops’s games on school nights.” Curry’s mother, Sonya, who founded the Montessori elementary school that Curry attended in North Carolina, emphasized the importance not just of learning but of playing. Her influence helped Curry and his wife, Ayesha, create a nonprofit foundation: Eat. Learn. Play. He writes that “making reading fun is the key to unlocking a kid’s ability to be successful in their academic journeys.” The book also has valuable pointers for ballers—and those hoping to hit the court. “Plant those arches—knees bent behind those 10 toes pointing at the hoop, hips squared with your shoulders—and draw your power up so you explode off the ground and rise into your shot.” Sounds easy, right?
“Protect your passion,” writes an NBA star in this winning exploration of how we can succeed in life.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9780593597293
Page Count: 432
Publisher: One World/Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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