Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Authors’ Category

Scott Teplin, Mac Barnett & Eli Horowitz–The Clock Without a Face: A Gus Twintig Mystery (2010)

Posted in Adam Rex, Adventure, Art, Children's Books, Chuck BB, Collecting, Contests, Eli Horowitz, Mac Barnett, McSweeney's, Mystery, Puzzles, Rheostatics, Scott Teplin, Short Books, Smarty Pants, The Beatles, Travel, YA Books on May 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: My Volkwagen Jetta hates The Beatles.

Lately, I have been playing some Beatles discs in my car.  And my Jetta clearly hates them.

First it was Please Please Me, when the entire CD player shut off mid-song.  It had lost all power.  I had to bang on it for about 5 minutes before it came back on.

The player played other discs fine after that.  Then, last night I played A Hard Day’s Night and half way through the disc it shut itself off again.  This time I was able to power it back on, but it wouldn’t play the disc anymore.  I ejected it and put in a new disc which worked fine.  When I put A Hard Day’s Night back in, same spot on the disc (“Can’t Buy Me Love”), and the player was totally off: no power at all.

A bit more pounding on the face and it came back on, and today played a Rheostatics disc with no trouble.  I guess I’ll not be listening to The Beatles in the car again.  Is it because the Beatles recorded versions of their songs in German but they weren’t included on the disc?

[READ: May 8, 2010] The Clock Without a Face

This review is about my first read of this book.  When I get to the end you’ll realize why there will have to be a second read and updated review.

This is an amusing tale.  And also a confounding (and evidently very real–see the bottom paragraph!–) mystery. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Nathan Englander–“Free Fruit for Young Widows” (New Yorker, May 17, 2010)

Posted in Death, Holocaust, Nathan Englander, Nazis, New Yorker, Short Story, The Beatles, War on May 14, 2010| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: The Beatles-With the Beatles (1963).

Reading the liner notes to these discs gives me a greater appreciation for what the Beatles did.  They put out these first two records in the span of eight months and recorded both of the discs in a matter of like 26 hours each.  That’s pretty amazing.

I’m also starting to think that mono may be the way to go with these early discs.  I mean I’m a stereo guy, but I’m listening to these discs in the car, and it’s weird to have all the instruments on my side and all the vocals over by the passenger seat.

As for this disc itself, again, I was surprised by how many songs I didn’t know on it.  It’s also funny to hear so many cover songs (although it makes sense this early in their career).  Especially since, for the most part, their originals are quite a bit better.  It’s also funny how many of these covers I think of as Beatles songs.  Especially, “Money.”  This disc closer is like “Twist and Shout” in that it really rocks the house down at the close of the disc.  It’s not quite as intense as “Twist” but it’s close.

The only real dud on the disc is “Roll Over Beethoven” which is remarkably stiff for a song about rock and roll.

Whether it’s the production or the amount of time they spent in the studio, this disc sounds more accomplished than the first.  And I can really see  what all the excitement must have been about.  Four good-looking guys singing about love.  What could be better than that?

[READ: May 11, 2010] “Free Fruit for Young Widows”

After reading the Holocaust-based story in McSweeney’s (post coming soon), and the Holocaust section of 2666, the last thing I was ready for was another Holocaust story.  And what a doozy this one is.

Sometimes, when reading a Holocaust based story, I worry that my emotions about the Holocaust will overshadow the quality of the story.  In other words, is it a cheap ploy, an easy setting to get a reaction from the reader.  This story definitely is not. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Damion Searls– ; or The Whale (2009)

Posted in 19th Century, Big Books, Damion Searls, Death, Fishing, Funny (strange), Gods, Henry Rollins, Herman Melville, Infinite Zombies, Jimmy Fallon, Meta, Morality, Peaches, Pink Floyd, Racism, Religion, Stardeath and White Dwarfs, The Flaming Lips, Whales on May 13, 2010| 12 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS & STARDEATH AND WHITE DWARFS featuring HENRY ROLLINS and PEACHES doing The Dark Side of the Moon (2010).

You’ve got to have balls to cover the most popular album of all time.  Everyone knows Dark Side of the Moon, according to Billboard charts everyone probably owns a copy of Dark Side of the Moon.  So, you’re taking on a pretty big task here.  But the Flaming Lips aren’t called The Fearless Freaks for nothing.

What delights me about this album is that it is utterly unfaithful to the original.  There’s nothing worse than a cover song that just apes the original version.  With that in mind, the Lips have put their bizarro stamp on the classic album, oftentimes rendering the songs almost unrecognizable–but more on that in a moment.

The two guest stars on the disc are Henry Rollins and Peaches.  Rollins recites all the spoken word bits from the original.  He actually makes a lot of those weird ramblings clear for me for the firs time.  The originals were spoken by a (presumably) high Englishman.  Rollins’ delivery is much more abrasive (but then so is the music).  It works pretty well, especially since Rollins’ laugh is maniacal, although if he sounded a bit more drunken I think it would work even better.  Peaches sings a few of the female vocal bits.  I’ve never been much of a fan of hers but, man, she does an awesome job in covering “The Great Gig in the Sky,” the track from the disc that features a wondrous diva singing and screaming her heart out.  Peaches really lets loose and showcases the power of her voice.

The Lips play on 7 songs and StarDeath play on 6.  They work together on 2 tracks.

StarDeath is fronted by Wayne Coyne’s nephew, Dennis.  I’d only heard one track from them before, and I liked it.  Dennis’ voice is a higher register, like Wayne, but he’s also a bit more subtle. Musically they are less noisy as well, and it’s a good counterpoint to the static of the Lips’ tracks.

So the opener, “Breathe” (Lips) is distinct right away, because the main focus of this version is a loud throbbing bassline. “On the Run” (Stardeath) is completely indistinguishable from the original.  You would never suspect it was a cover.  It’s a bass-propelled, very cool song, but there’s almost no similarity.

“Money” (Lips) stays fairly faithful to the original, except that the vocals are totally auto-tuned.  It makes the song sound really alien, as if coming, yes, from the other side of the moon.

“Time” (Stardeath) on the other hand, is a very delicate, acoustic track, (sounding somewhat like Mercury Rev, actually).  It is something of a counter to the rocking version on the original.

“Us and Them” (Lips) is probably the closest sounding to the original.  It has simple washes of sound and Wayne’s delicate voice.  But, once again, the louder sections of this song are left out.  “Any Colour You Like” (Stardeath) is a much closer instrumental to the original than “On the Run” was.  And “Brain Damage” (Stardeath) is really quite spot on (and may be even creepier than the original).

The ender, “Eclipse” is like a distorted indie rock version of the original.  It works pretty well.

There’s surprisingly little in the way of sound effects (which are all over the original).  I’d have thought they’d populate the disc with all kinds of fun things, but no, they actually play it pretty straight.

My one real complaint about the disc (and actually about Embryonic as well).  The Lips have always pushed the envelope of music.  But lately, they seem to be redlining  a lot of their sounds, making them distort and crackle.  Now, I love distortion when it’s used well, but this “too loud” distortion actually hurts my ears, even if the volume is low.  I find the sound to be unpleasant, and not in a good way.  And I think it’s a shame because the Lips write such great music, that I hate to have it obscured by clouds of noise.

So, yeah, this will never replace the original for anyone.  But it’s a fun experiment and actually sounds a bit like a rough demo for the final release.  In fact, in many ways it sounds like it’s coming from outer space and may be conceptually more accurate for the title.

I saw The Lips and Star Death on Jimmy Fallon.  They played “Breathe” and all eight (or more) guys were on stage.  It was a big wonderful mess.  And they sounded really good together.

[READ: May 11, 2010] ; or The Whale

In 2007, a book was published called Moby Dick in Half the Time.  And, as the title implies, it took Herman Melville’s Moby Dick; or The Whale and truncated it.  The editors basically kept in all of the “plot” and excised most of the “wandering” parts of the story.

So, in 2009, Damion Searls decided to print all of the excised material as a book itself.  This exercise was published in The Review of Contemporary Fiction, Summer 2009 | Vol. XXIX.  So, this “book” is Moby Dick without the “plot” or as the introduction puts it, “all Moby, no Dick.”

This book includes “every chapter, sentence, word, and punctuation mark that Anonymous removed to produce [Moby Dick in Half the Time]” (10).

And so what we get is a very surreal story indeed.  It comes across as a fascinating look into the mind of the (in this version) not named until Chapter 11 or so narrator (since we’ve obviously lost “Call me Ishmael”).  It also comes across in many sections as bizarre poetry.

; or the Whale’s opening line is:

“methodically.” (31). (more…)

Read Full Post »

Ross Campbell–Wet Moon Book 3: Further Realms of Fright (2007)

Posted in Bella Morte, Demons, Drinking, Goths, Graphic Novel, Humiliation, LGBTQ, Meat Loaf, Ongoing, Oni Press, Ross Campbell, Sex, The Sisters of Mercy on May 12, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SISTERS OF MERCY-Floodland (1987).

Since I’m reviewing a goth book, why not talk about a goth record?  Back in the day, I really liked Floodland (and still think it’s pretty cool).  The album is over the top, but it’s quite apparent that I’m really drawn to theatrical music.

It’s opens with a wonderfully driving medley of “Dominion/Mother Russia” (I can recall singing “Doh-Min-E-Un!” at the top of my lungs on many a car ride.)  The second epic track, “Lucretia, My Reflection” is another great over the top ode to darkness.  I get that melody in my head and it doesn’t leave for days.

“1959” is the odd track on the disc: a straightforeward piano ballad.  It shows Andrew Eldritch’s voice works well solo as well as when he’s emoting with the “band.”  This is followed by the great spooky chorus of voices that open “This Corrosion.”  This song, which starts out so theatrically, morphs into a keyboard based bouncy dance track.  The chorus keeps coming back, giving this a delightfully operatic quality.  (I was going to make a comment in the first paragraph about liking theatrical artists like Meat Loaf, and when I looked this disc up I learned that this track was produced by Jim Steinman, Meat Loaf’s major producer guy.  Huh).

The end of the disc can’t reach the extreme heights of the earlier portion (although the guitar lines of “Flood” are quite nice).  But after the trio of  “Dominion,” “Lucretia,” and “Corrosion,” you’ve easily satisfied anyone’s criteria for great goth disc.

[READ: May 9, 2010] Wet Moon Book 3

I can’t believe it took me this long to read the continuing saga of Cleo and friends.  When I finally had a window, I devoured almost the whole book in a sitting.

The biggest change in the book is in Cleo’s eyes.  They are suddenly HUGE!  They’re very cartoon-like (specifically like Bugs Bunny’s nephew Clyde).  It’s very disconcerting since everything else is so meticulously true to life.  Contextually, it can be argued that at the end of book two, when Myrtle kissed Cleo for the first time, her eyes popped out of her head, but that’s stretching it, I think.

Aside from that incongruity, the rest of the cast remains the same.  I was delighted to have a flashback to high school, where we could see a young (evil) Cleo, and a young Trilby (with hair!). (more…)

Read Full Post »

Todd Davis–Handy Dad: 25 Awesome Projects for Dads and Kids (2010)

Posted in Projects, Todd Davis on May 11, 2010| 2 Comments »

[READ: not exactly]

I’m cheating with this book a little bit. I haven’t actually READ the whole thing. In fact, I probably never will read the WHOLE thing, as it is mostly directions for projects.   However, it is already a favorite book of mine!

I just received for my birthday.

I have been planning on creating all manner of cool things in the backyard for the kids (a tree house for starters, as well as a slide and other various obstacles). This book is basically all of my thoughts with pictures instructions. Plus, there’s a whole bunch of stuff that I never thought of and I really hope I have the wherewithal to make. (more…)

Read Full Post »

1000 words about Roberto Bolaño

Posted in Big Books, bolanobolano.com, Infinite Zombies, Roberto Bolaño, Translation, Word usage on May 10, 2010| 4 Comments »

When I started reading 2666, I didn’t know anything about Bolaño.  I didn’t even know any of his other books (except I had heard The Savage Detectives was excellent).  But I didn’t know anything about him, personally.

You shouldn’t need to know an author’s biography to appreciate a novel.  And that’s the case with Bolaño, certainly.  However, knowing his biography adds a new dimension to his work that explains why he writes what he writes.

So, the brief outline: (more…)

Read Full Post »

The Review of Contemporary Fiction: Summer 2009 | Vol. XXIX (2009)

Posted in Absinthe, Book Reviews, Christopher Miller, Damion Searls, Don DeLillo, Flann O'Brien, Georges Perec, Hüsker Dü, n+1, Nikolai Gogol, Review of Contemporary Fiction, The Review of Contemporary Fiction, Therapy?, Thomas Pynchon, William H. Gass on May 9, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THERAPY?-Lonely, Cryin’ Only [single] (1998).

I have a few Therapy? singles, but I wanted to mention this one specifically because it has two “new” recordings on it.  The first is of “Diane” the Hüsker Dü song that they first recorded on Infernal Love.  The second is of “Teethgrinder” their first “hit” off of Nurse.

I’m always intrigued when bands reinterpret their own songs, but I have to say that these two remakes are disappointing.  “Diane” is slowed down quite a lot and is very very crisp.  But it rather removes some of the creepiness of the original (and it’s a very creepy song).

As for “Teethgrinder,” the original of that song is stellar.  Any changes can only be for the worst.  And that’s the case here.  There’s so many great, weird sounds from the original (and those sounds make it wonderful) that without them, the song is fine, but nothing awesome.

Fortunately these tracks are b-sides and not really official or anything.

[READ: May 4, 2010] The Review of Contemporary Fiction

This is my first exposure to this journal.  The only reason I bought it was for the main (and only) title in the book–Damion Searls’ ; Or The Whale (which I’m reading now and will review shortly).

The rest of the journal contains Book Reviews and ads for forthcoming publications.  Since I didn’t plan to talk about that back matter in ; Or The Whale, I ‘ll do it here.

There are 22 book reviews in the back of this journal (which itself is 368 pages and only costs $8.00!).  Each book is not quite an academic book, but certainly not popular fiction or non-fiction.  There are a lot of French writers (either in translation, or of books about them).  There’s also some reviews of books that were long out of print (Robert Walser’s The Tanners and two works by Breyten Breytenbach).

The one surprise is the inclusion of a sort of meta-science fiction title by Christopher Miller called The Cardboard Universe.  It’s an encyclopedic guide to a sci-fi author whose initials are PKD. (Phoebus K. Dank–although Dank does have a fictional character called Phillip K. Dick).  It sounds great and yet it is an encyclopedic-style book of over 500 pages.  I’m just not sure if I’m up for it.

I’ll probably never read any of the books reviewed (I barely have time for the stuff I really want to read), but they all sounded interesting in one way or another.   For the entire list of books reviewed and more info on the journal, click here.

After the Book Reviews, there’s a Books Received list.  I assume this is all of the books that they were asked to review.  I wonder if they’ll review all of them?   The only author I recognized in the list was A.S. Byatt.

There’s then a few ads for like-minded publications: n+1, Chicago Review, Trickhouse, which looks fascinating, and Absinthe (new European writing).  There’s also a listing for new books from University of Delaware Press about Don DeLillo’s Underworld, Thomas Pynchons’ Mason & Dixon and William Gass’s The Tunnel (which I really ought to read as that book was a mystery to me).  There’s even critics I recognize in these essays!

The final pages are ads for forthcoming books from Dalkey Archive Press (the publishers of The Review of Contemporay Fiction).  I know Dalkey for a few obscure titles (mostly from Flann O’Brien, but others as well).  The books in this list are from the Dalkey Archive Scholarly Series and include titles like Phantasms of Matter in Gogol (and Gombrowicz); Reading Games: An Aesthetics of Play in Flann O’Brien, Samuel Beckett, and Georges Perec (which I admit sounds really interesting, but which I will likely never read).  The final title in the list is called Don’t Ever Get Famous: Essays on New York Writing after the New York School.  I’m curious about this one.  The book blurb mentions a number of writers that I’ve never heard of, so I can’t decide how to take that title.  I only wish the blurb explained it.

If I were more studious, if I worked in academics, if I didn’t read so many other things, I would definitely subscribe to this journal.  But as it stands, I’ll be just getting just this one (and maybe an occasional other one if the mood strikes me).

Read Full Post »

Dagoberto Gilb–“Uncle Rock” (New Yorker, May 10, 2010)

Posted in Dagoberto Gilb, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Short Story, The Beatles on May 8, 2010| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE BEATLES-Please Please Me (1963).

I was never a big fan of the Beatles.  I think I was too young for them.  By the time I got into music, the Beatles were passe.  I’ve always enjoyed the later psychedelic stuff, but that “rock n’ roll” stuff was never my thing.

Sarah on the other hand was a huge Beatles fan.  HUGE!  When the remastered discs came out I got Sarah all of them over a few different holidays.  And, I thought it would be worth it for me to see what this Fab Four was all about.

The first thing I noticed about this disc was how many songs I didn’t know on it!  Now, I was fairly certain that I knew every Beatles song.  I mean, I’ve listened to classic rock radio since I was about 10, so how could I not have heard every Beatles song?  But in this disc, I did not know: “Misery,” “Chains,” “Boys” (how could I never have heard Ringo’s first ever vocal attempt?), and “A Taste of Honey.”  Shocking.

I’m still not a huge fan of this period, although after listening to the disc a few times I do see what the fuss is about (the liner notes also helped contextualize for me).  For some reason, I really don’t like the harmonica sound on a number of tracks (“Love Me Do” and “Please Please Me”).

But having said that, “Please Please Me” is a really great song–the harmonies are tremendous.  And the liner notes led me to understand that this style of pop/rock n’ roll was fairly new to audiences back in 1963.  Contextually, “Twist and Shout” must have sounded like Metallica to them.  John is screaming his head off, the ah’s (in 4 part harmony) with John’s high pitched scream must have had people running in fear.  Even now, 47 years later, that song still packs a wallop.

And, man was George funny looking back then.

[READ: May 5, 2010] “Uncle Rock”

This very short story started out simply enough: Erick’s mother is clearly very hot, and she gets hit on, like, all the time.  Since his mom is single, she considers many of these suitors, and if he is dressed sufficiently well, she will even accept his request for a date.

Erick is 11 and doesn’t speak to the suitors.  He doesn’t give a reason for this (his mother says it’s because he doesn’t speak English so well, but that’s not true).   Over the course of the story, we learn that Erick’s mom has dated quite a diverse group of men, and in many ways Erick has benefited from their largesse.

It is only when we meet her new boyfriend, Roque (known as Uncle Rock) that Erick’s life appears to settle down, and the story shifts dramatically. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Woody Allen–“Will the Real Avatar Please Stand Up” (New Yorker, May 10, 2010)

Posted in Funny (ha ha), Jack Black, Meat Loaf, New Yorker, Sex, Tenacious D, The Pick of Destiny, Warren Beatty, Woody Allen, Word usage on May 7, 2010| 2 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: MEATLOAF with JACK BLACK-“Like A Rose” (2010).

My friend Matt is the biggest Meat Loaf fan I know.  He may be the only person in the United States who owns all of Meat Loaf’s CDs (yes, he has ones other than those two Bat Out of Hell discs).  So it came as no surprise to me when he sent me a link to a new Meat Loaf song.  What surprised me was that Jack Black is singing a duet with him!

The Meat Loaf/Jack Black connection is not new; Meat Loaf appeared in The Pick of Destiny.  And Meat Loaf and Jack Black are both waaaaay over the top.   So, really, the pairing makes a lot of sense.  And, when you put the two together, it’s amazing how well their voices work.

I’ve always loved Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell, but I don’t have a lot of patience for the rest of his music.  He played a show at my college, and I left mid way through (mostly because the acoustics were godawful and he sounded terrible, although also because he didn’t play anything I knew–that is until after I left when he played like all of Bat Out of Hell).  But since then I have seen him in a Storytellers setting (also in Scranton) and he put on a hell of a show.

The song itself is pretty good.  It starts with a rocking acoustic guitar (not unlike Tenacious D) and then turns into a metal rocker (like Tenacious D).  Meat Loaf’s voice sounds a bit like a preacher (and to my ears, Jack is not loud enough in the mix).  Lyrically, it’s not that great (I can do without the “bitch” bit) but it’s a good rocker.

It’s available here.

[READ: May 5, 2010] “Will the Real Avatar Please Stand Up”

I think I’m missing something with this title.  Because I’m sure that you, like me, were expecting this to have something to do with the James Cameron film that is sweeping the nation.  And yet, this is actually about Warren Beatty and his claim that he has slept with some 12,000 women.  [Heh, heh, I just looked up the definition…very funny.  Sorry for my ignorance].

After an introduction (which may be in the persona of Allen himself–quite the rarity), the story follows a young woman as she looks to be next in line–number 12,989!

The story was quite amusing.  The character herself is not terribly well drawn (she’s hot and defiant and definitely not going to sleep with him).  But the story itself comes to life when we get into the Beatty mansion and learn that he has helpers to take care of so many of those pesky things that will keep his numbers down: foreplay, cuddling etc. (more…)

Read Full Post »

2666 final (?) thoughts

Posted in Big Books, bolanobolano.com, Books about writers, Communists, David Foster Wallace, Death, Dreams, Drinking, Dystopia, Foreign Books, History, Infinite Zombies, Natasha Wimmer, Nazis, Roberto Bolaño, Sex, Translation, Violence, War, Yuck! on May 6, 2010| 6 Comments »

I’ve waited to post this, my wrap up of ideas abut 2666, until I saw what others had to say about it.  Which is kind of a cop out but also kind of understandable.  This book is a giant mess of information, and I’m not entirely sure how to process it all.  So I’ve been looking for help.  And I’ve gotten some, but it’s all kinds of contradictory.  Most people seemed to hate the book.  A few people enjoyed it somewhat, and one or two people really felt moved by it.

I think I fall squarely in that middle camp.  As anyone who has been reading here knows, I became obsessed with Bolaño’s books, and read all of his short fiction (saving Savage Detectives for a read in a few weeks).  And yet I’m not exactly sure WHY I felt compelled to read these stories.  (I’m very glad I did…there will be more on Bolaño himself in a day or two).

I’ve decided to look back over what I wrote to get a sense of what I thought of the book (I knew these posts would come in handy). (more…)

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »