A rigorously researched, captivating tome on one of the top bands of the 20th century.
A definitive look at a band that helped shape the musical soundscape of the 1970s.
If you thought you knew all there is to know about the Eagles, think again. Forgo and Cafarelli have teamed up for this encyclopedic work about the popular band. Album by album, song by song, their book covers the Eagles from about 1971 to 1980. (It’s the second of three volumes). Definitive isn’t hyperbole here. A 43-page index is followed by a 2,149-item, 38-page bibliography, including previously published interviews the authors draw from liberally. The book unfolds chronologically, diving deep into what made the band tick, its influences, and the musicians it in turn influenced. The authors pepper the narrative with graphic pullouts for each year, including “Nuggets” (outrageous vignettes), “On the Road With…” (acts the band toured with), “Collaborations” (acts the bands sang with), and much, much more. Forgo and Cafarelli share plenty of Eagles lore, including when Joe Walsh kissed Raquel Welch after accepting an award, the time manager Irving Azoff helped Glenn Frey avoid a drug arrest in the Bahamas, and the stories behind classic Eagles songs, like “Desperado,” “Hotel California,” and “Take it Easy.” There are record charts, graphics galore, insights into cover art, tales of drug use and other debauchery, and studio tidbits recounting the stories of Don Henley, Frey, Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit, Bernie Leadon, Randy Meisner, and others who contributed to the success of the Eagles over the decades. The authors have done a beautiful job of concocting a volume that will appeal both to faithful and casual fans. This doorstopper never lags, but it can be daunting. In fact, there are instructions on “how to use” the book, something that might scare away the average reader. But those who stick with it will be rewarded.
A rigorously researched, captivating tome on one of the top bands of the 20th century.Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2022
ISBN: 9781734365337
Page Count: 503
Publisher: Time Passages LLC
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
Spears’ vulnerability shines through as she describes her painful journey from vulnerable girl to empowered woman.
A heartfelt memoir from the pop superstar.
Spears grew up with an alcoholic father, an exacting mother, and a fear of disappointing them both. She also displayed a natural talent for singing and dancing and a strong work ethic. Spears is grateful for the adult professionals who helped her get her start, but the same can’t be said of her peers. When she met Justin Timberlake, also a Mouseketeer on the Disney Channel’s updated Mickey Mouse Club, the two formed an instant bond. Spears describes her teenage feelings for Timberlake as “so in love with him it was pathetic,” and she’s clearly angry about the rumors and breakup that followed. This tumultuous period haunted her for years. Out of many candidates for villains of the book, Timberlake included, perhaps the worst are the careless journalists of the late 1990s and early 2000s, who indulged Timberlake while vilifying Spears. The cycle repeated for years, taking its toll on her mental health. Spears gave birth to sons Sean Preston and Jayden James within two years, and she describes the difficulties they all faced living in the spotlight. The author writes passionately about how custody of her boys and visits with them were held over her head, and she recounts how they were used to coerce her to make decisions that weren’t always in her best interest. As many readers know, conservancy followed, and for 13 years, she toured, held a residency in Las Vegas, and performed—all while supposedly unable to take care of herself, an irony not lost on her. Overall, the book is cathartic, though readers who followed her 2021 trial won’t find many revelations, and many of the other newsworthy items have been widely covered in the run-up to the book’s release.
Spears’ vulnerability shines through as she describes her painful journey from vulnerable girl to empowered woman.Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781668009048
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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