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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.

Posted

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.

Posted (edited)

Started reading The Whole Equation by David Thomson. Got it as a Christmas gift, so it would be nice if I could finish it by February....

Edited by BruceH
Posted

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-)

Posted

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.
  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

Nixon at the Movies by Mark Feeney ... very interesting semi-biography of Nixon mixed w/film criticism. It's not about fictional portrayals of Nixon, but more about certain movies as metaphors for things that happened in Nixon's life ... and vice versa.

Posted

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.

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

Various essays/reviews in Michael Dirda's 'Bound to Please' - highly recommended.

Didn't like this one nearly as much as Readings -- the Book World review pieces are just too short.

--eric

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