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MAROONED

Name: MAROONED
Author: Phil Freeman
ISBN: 978-0-306-81485-3

THE NEXT GENERATION OF DESERT ISLAND DISCS

edited by Phil Freeman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2007

At least the title is apt: Most of these critics should be abandoned on an island, along with their albums.

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Off-key 21st-century reprise of the pioneering anthology Stranded (1979).

In that influential roundup of original essays, editor Greil Marcus asked some of the best first-generation rock critics, “If you had only one album to take with you if you were left on a remote island, what would it be? And why?” Their answers sparked some memorable writing: Lester Bangs on Van Morrison, Ed Ward on the “5” Royales, Langdon Winner on Captain Beefheart, Robert Christgau on the New York Dolls, etc. Playing this game has since become common coin among music scribes and obsessive fans, an ongoing popularity that presumably spawned this sequel. Regrettably, editor Freeman and 19 others, many of them graduates of the Village Voice school of solipsistic criticism, don’t come close to duplicating their predecessors’ effects and insights. The majority of the selected albums are head-scratchers, pure and simple. A quarter of those polled select heavy-metal releases of varying degrees of obscurity and worthlessness. Second-tier pop and rock, plus a few quality (and decades-old) jazz titles, are also represented. Surprisingly, given the genre’s cultural impact, only two rap albums make the grade: obscure sets by Divine Styler (Spiral Walls Containing Autumns of Light) and Brand Nubian (One For All). In a volume painfully short on humor, it’s notable that Dave Queen’s treatise on the Scorpions’ Virgin Killer and Ian Christie’s piece about Iron Maiden’s Killers are the funniest entries: Who says metal fans can’t laugh at themselves? The reliable Simon Reynolds (writing about English folkie John Martyn) and Jeff Chang (on New Orleans funk legends The Meters) are the rare contributors who combine taste, knowledge and writing skill. Most of the rest indulge in unconvincing navel-gazing. In a class by itself is Kandia Crazy Horse’s incomprehensible homage to a lesser Stephen Stills album (Manassas) that suddenly and mystifyingly metamorphoses into a tract about English soul-boy Lewis Taylor.

At least the title is apt: Most of these critics should be abandoned on an island, along with their albums.

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2007

ISBN: 978-0-306-81485-3

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Da Capo

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2007

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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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:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.