JohnJ Posted May 10, 2004 Report Posted May 10, 2004 Just finished 'Nico: Songs They Never Play On The Radio' by James Young. A compelling and frequently hilarious journal of the last few years of Nico's life by her keyboard player. She spent much of this time on the road with other junkies and assorted low life characters (most memorably, Dr. Demetrius, her manager). Despite living only for heroin much of the time, Nico comes across as a surprisingly sympathetic figure. As an aside, at one point she mentions being the model for the cover of the Bill Evans LP 'Moonbeams'. Quote
ghost of miles Posted May 10, 2004 Author Report Posted May 10, 2004 Nico comes across as a surprisingly sympathetic figure. As an aside, at one point she mentions being the model for the cover of the Bill Evans LP 'Moonbeams'. I love that album and had no idea that Nico was the model for the cover. Fascinating piece of jazz trivia! Quote
BruceH Posted May 11, 2004 Report Posted May 11, 2004 Damn----that is her! But you've got to tilt your head way over to recognize her. Quote
ghost of miles Posted May 13, 2004 Author Report Posted May 13, 2004 Laura Wexler's FIRE IN A CANEBRAKE: THE LAST MASS LYNCHING IN AMERICA. Quote
gdogus Posted May 14, 2004 Report Posted May 14, 2004 Jose Saramago - All the Names (Saramago is a Nobel laureate in literature from Portugal) Quote
Chrome Posted May 14, 2004 Report Posted May 14, 2004 Jose Saramago - All the Names (Saramago is a Nobel laureate in literature from Portugal) That's pretty good, but I thought his novel "Blindness" was even better ... way better, I'd say. The plot of "All the Names" seemed a little too much like he was borrowing from Kafka. Quote
gdogus Posted May 14, 2004 Report Posted May 14, 2004 That's pretty good, but I thought his novel "Blindness" was even better ... way better, I'd say. The plot of "All the Names" seemed a little too much like he was borrowing from Kafka. I really liked Blindness too - and The Gospel According to Jesus Christ - so I'm persisting with Saramago. I'm not that far into All the Names, but yeah, it's pretty Kafka-esque so far. But then Blindness borrows, too - from Camus, Golding, etc.... Quote
BruceH Posted May 14, 2004 Report Posted May 14, 2004 Laura Wexler's FIRE IN A CANEBRAKE: THE LAST MASS LYNCHING IN AMERICA. I doubt it will be the last. Quote
brownie Posted May 18, 2004 Report Posted May 18, 2004 Very enjoyable lightweight read: Terry Gibbs' autobiography 'Good Vibes, a Life In Jazz' (The Scarecrow Press'. Had found Gibbs interview in Cadence magazine several years ago very interesting. His book is great with quite an impressive cast of characters. Gibbs has been part of the jazz scene since his early days in Brooklyn with friends like Tiny Kahn, Al Cohn. He has a lot of witty reminiscences and writes a bit like he plays. His style goes in various directions but he knows how to tell a story. Perfect ready for a sunny spring day. Very enjoyable middleweight read 'Les Faux Monnayeurs' (The Counterfeiters) by Andre Gide which I had not got into since my teenage days. Very witty book in beautiful French. Alfred Jarry, the author of 'Ubu Roi', makes a chameo appearance. Gide is brilliant when he moves around his characters and remains a master at describing friendships and solitude. Gide was a Nobel Prize of Literature laureate in 1947. He died in 1951. Quote
ghost of miles Posted May 29, 2004 Author Report Posted May 29, 2004 John le Carre, SMILEY'S PEOPLE. Quote
paul secor Posted June 7, 2004 Report Posted June 7, 2004 (edited) Just finished Penelope Lively's A House Unlocked - a personal and social history of her grandparents' country house in Somerset, England. In many ways, it was a fascinating read, recounting the social changes that occured over a period of more than seventy years. I found the chapter which recounted the evacuation of children and some adults from cities to rural areas of England during WW II was especially interesting. I hadn't realized the extent of social change that took place after these events. Lively's future husband was one of the evacuees, and his life changed dramatically. He grew up in a working class urban area, and ended up attending Oxford and becoming an academic - something that probably wouldn't have occured before the War. (Penelope and Jack Lively didn't actually meet until some years after the War - she was living with her family in Egypt during the War years.) Penelope Lively is one of my favorite writers, and this is a very good book - I recommend it to others - but I'm actually looking forward to reading more of her fiction in the future. I feel that fiction is her forte. Edited June 7, 2004 by paul secor Quote
king ubu Posted June 7, 2004 Report Posted June 7, 2004 Finishing Primo Levi's "Si questo e un uomo", then maybe Semprun's "Le grand voyage" (both in german), or rather Kertesz' "Roman eines Schicksallosen". After that probably Giorgio Agamben's book on what rests of "Auschwitz". At the same time on and off: Bela Balasz' "Ein Baedeker der Seele und andere Feuilletons", also (still) some Joseph Roth, Siegfried Kracauer etc. ubu Quote
Jazzmoose Posted June 7, 2004 Report Posted June 7, 2004 Currently on the reading stack: Worse than Watergate by John W. Dean Bushwhacked by Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose Bias by Bernard Goldberg I figure another couple of weeks of this shit, and I'll be ready to tackle 100 Years of Solitude. Either the book or the lifestyle! Quote
ghost of miles Posted June 8, 2004 Author Report Posted June 8, 2004 Still reading le Carre's SMILEY'S PEOPLE... also starting William Kenney's CHICAGO JAZZ: A CULTURAL HISTORY 1904-1930. Quote
gdogus Posted June 8, 2004 Report Posted June 8, 2004 Italo Calvino - If on a Winter's Night a Traveler Quote
alankin Posted June 9, 2004 Report Posted June 9, 2004 Peter Robinson - "Cold is the Grave" One of the titles in the mystery series with the lead character of Detective Chief Inspecor Alan Banks. Quote
Christiern Posted June 9, 2004 Report Posted June 9, 2004 UNIX for Mac OS X A riveting book. Can't wait for the sequel. Quote
BruceH Posted June 15, 2004 Report Posted June 15, 2004 It must be something in the air. I'm reading The Best Democracy Money Can Buy (revised American edition) by Greg Palast. Not good for the blood pressure. Quote
sal Posted June 15, 2004 Report Posted June 15, 2004 "The Lord of the Flies". This book is amazing. Quote
The Mule Posted June 28, 2004 Report Posted June 28, 2004 Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War by T.J. Stiles From Publishers Weekly: "In a lucid reexamination of one of the nation's most notorious outlaws, independent historian Stiles argues that Jesse James (1847-1882), like his fellow "bushwhackers," had a political agenda and that this made him more terrorist than bandit, and more significant than we credit. "He was," Stiles says, "a political partisan [wh0] eagerly offered himself up as a polarizing symbol of the Confederate project for postwar Missouri." Quote
BruceH Posted June 29, 2004 Report Posted June 29, 2004 The Battle That Stopped Rome, by Peter S. Wells Quote
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