The literary equivalent of an enjoyable but ephemeral three-minute pop tune.
Sing, sing a song. Make it simple to last a whole book long.
The first-person journalistic quest narrative has become quite the rage, the most recent noteworthy example being A.J. Jacobs’s The Year of Living Biblically (2007). London music journalist Hodgkinson (Guitar Man: A Six-String Odyssey, or, You Love that Guitar More Than You Love Me, 2006) had a simple goal: learn how to write a competent pop song, then cut it as a single. The stumbling composer’s first effort was iffy: “Mystery Fox / Get out of your box / It’s time for me / To chase you up that tree, o mystery fox.” (Yikes.) Quickly realizing that he didn’t have it in him to come up with the goods alone, he enlisted the help of his talented but goofy friend Lawrence, as well as talented but not goofy musicians such as Keith Richards, Ray Davies, Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) and Hal David (Burt Bacharach’s songwriting partner). Hodgkinson accomplished his simple mission, but he didn’t exactly become a rock star in the process. The self-effacing, gently humorous attitude on display here was a wise choice; taking his pursuit too seriously would have made the narrative little more than a series of music lessons. Unfortunately, as is the case with many of these “in search of” projects, the quest becomes tiresome about two-thirds of the way through. A ruthless editor might have turned this into a true winner—as it is, it’s merely a pleasant diversion.
The literary equivalent of an enjoyable but ephemeral three-minute pop tune.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-306-81581-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Da Capo
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2007
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
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
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