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George Orwell: DOWN AND OUT IN PARIS AND LONDON :tup

Good one! A real bohemian classic.

E.M. Forster, ROOM WITH A VIEW. My wife and I re-watched the movie last night (one of our favorites) & I thought I should finally get around to reading the novel, which supposedly puts more of an emphasis on some of the class issues.

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Just finished 'Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn' by David Hajdu. I would really recommend this, not only did the book make me realize just how special Billy Strayhorn was, but it is also a wonderful portrait of the period from the perspective of being part of the Ellington organization.

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Just finished 'Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn' by David Hajdu. I would really recommend this, not only did the book make me realize just how special Billy Strayhorn was, but it is also a wonderful portrait of the period from the perspective of being part of the Ellington organization.

I'll second that. A very good book, which tempted me to read his subsequent biography regarding Dylan, Richard & Mimi Farina until I realized after a couple of pages (having loaned it from the library) that I simply don't care anywhere near as much about the music these subjects have produced as I do about various jazz greats. B-)

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I'm reading "Ted Williams The Biography of an American Hero" by Leigh Montville

No one could swear as well as Ted.  Not only were the words showstoppers--words like "cunt" and "cocksucker" dropped freely with f-bombs and modified with his favorite adjective, "syphilitic"-- but there was a way he swore that made his outbursts special.  He strung the words together to make elaborate, rococo, profane poetry. There was a cadence a rhythm to his swearing.  There was a blasphemous direction too, much of the anger addressed upward toward a syphilitic Supreme Being who had let humanity down just one more time.
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Gunther Schuller, THE SWING ERA, and a bio of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm.

How is The Swing Era, Gom? I keep thinking I want to read it. Give me your review.

Just started it, skeith, although I've dipped into it quite a bit over the past two years. Very worthwhile IMO, though. Schuller makes a good case for some of the lesser-known figures and keeps a good musicological/history ratio... too bad there isn't going to be a Volume III.

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