Now reading...

[Referentzhunter]

Disappointed in this book. Way to slowwww for me, not enough substance.

[Brad]

1 hour ago, Referentzhunter said:

Disappointed in this book. Way to slowwww for me, not enough substance.

I had trouble with the book too but I want to give it another try. I wouldn’t say it didn’t have enough substance. 

[Referentzhunter]

22 hours ago, Brad said:

I had trouble with the book too but I want to give it another try. I wouldn’t say it didn’t have enough substance. 

I understand that the subject of the book is a weigthy one. 'Steinbeck' keeps on repeating the same message over and over again after a while. That's what i meant with not enough substance. I did like East of eden !

[jlhoots]

Julia Alvarez: The Cemetery Of Untold Stories

[Referentzhunter]

On 5/23/2024 at 3:59 PM, rostasi said:

Steinbeck: the Grant Green of writers.

I see what you mean, ... considering Grapes of Wrath

[GA Russell]

[ejp626]

On 4/15/2024 at 9:06 PM, ejp626 said:

I just finished up A Hero of Our Time.

Interestingly, there is a contemporary novel by Naben Ruthnum by the same name!  I'll get to it fairly soon, but it isn't the very next thing on my list.

 

 

In the end, I found this very disappointing, primarily because almost none of the characters acted in plausible ways.  I'm actually disappointed in myself for not dropping it sooner, but I thought the post-COVID storyline would be more interesting.  It was not...

I've just started Rushdie's Victory City.  Aside from a starting point that is magic realism on steriods, it's pretty interesting so far.  It reminds me a fair bit of The Enchantress of Florence, so your feelings about that novel will probably be a good guide for this one.

[GA Russell]

For years, I wanted to read the stories from Dime Detective Magazine.

They are now available.  I picked up six books I found on sale.  I have read five, and honestly, they aren't very good.  Oh, well!

[jazzbo]

I picked one up when you posted it here. I haven't read it yet. 

Right now

A. A. Fair "Some Women Won't Wait"

[GA Russell]

20 minutes ago, jazzbo said:

I picked one up when you posted it here. I haven't read it yet. 

Lon, of the five I've read, I think Mr. Maddox was the best, and Mike Blair was the worst.

Inspector Allhof had a gimmick - he was a complete jerk.  Perhaps the author succeeded in his intentions, but I found reading stories about such a man to be tiresome.

[jazzbo]

I'll be prepared to feel tiresome then as it was Allhof I picked up.

[GA Russell]

On 5/29/2024 at 4:10 PM, jazzbo said:

I'll be prepared to feel tiresome then as it was Allhof I picked up.

Lon, I forgot about the first one I read, Volume 2 of the Cardigan stories by Frederick Nebel.  I liked these stories more than the others.

[jazzbo]

40 minutes ago, GA Russell said:

Lon, I forgot about the first one I read, Volume 2 of the Cardigan stories by Frederick Nebel.  I liked these stories more than the others.

Thanks!

[HutchFan]

After recently seeing George Clinton & P-Funk in concert -- an astounding experience -- I started reading this:

[sidewinder]

Recently bought a copy of Ben Markley's 'Cedar - The Life and Music of Cedar Walton' - currently in the pending pile after I have finished the 3 extensive volumes of James Lees-Milne's diaries.

[Ken Dryden]

[JSngry]

On 6/5/2024 at 2:59 PM, HutchFan said:

After recently seeing George Clinton & P-Funk in concert -- an astounding experience -- I started reading this:

Whaddya' think?

[HutchFan]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

Whaddya' think?

So far, so good.   I haven't made it very into it yet, though.  

 

[JSngry]

Wonder if it was going to be sociological, musicological, biographicological, or a little bit of all of that.

[HutchFan]

It focuses mostly on the music -- but there's also some biographical and sociological aspects too.

[GA Russell]

The author was the engineer, and sometimes also the producer, of a number of very popular rock albums between 1965 and 1974.

Tons of name dropping.  Few stories would be interesting to the reader who was unfamiliar with the musicians or the albums.

Not informative regarding the actions of an engineer or a producer.

[JSngry]

18 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

It focuses mostly on the music -- but there's also some biographical and sociological aspects too.

Music, like technically aware, or music, like records and stuff?

Hate to keep asking, but this music is substantial enough that a really knowing, insightful book about both the music and the people and the business is something for which I would go all in.

A "fan overview", not so much.

[HutchFan]

Jim, as far as my own assessment: I don't feel like I've read enough of the book yet to give you a meaningful answer. I'll check back in after I've read more. At that point, I can give an informed thumbs up or down.

That said, it's an ASCAP-Deems Taylor award-winning book, so I think it's safe to assume that it's not simply a "fan overview."

Also, FWIW, George Clinton wrote the foreward and he gives the book his seal of approval. 

 

[JSngry]

Well, George, I'm sure, has his price. LOL.

I'm just weary of music books that surf on the surface or even worse, use a lot of adjectives and not enough nouns. 

One of the best purely analytical expositions of "the one" was in that book about Herbie's Meandishi music. Kinda dry, but accurate and truthful.

I'd hope for that type of truth with a more...soulful? telling.

That, and talk to the players. They're dying off (or are already dead). A lot of people have their generic interview stories, but that's because they keep getting generic interview questions.

Fred Wesley's autobiography is a really good read, actually.

[ghost of miles]

A fascinating account of W.E.B.  Du Bois’ unfinished book about Black soldiers in WW1:

 

NY Times book review

Edited June 17, 2024 by ghost of miles