New book about Sun Ra

[ghost of miles]

Looks interesting!

A Pure Solar World: Sun Ra And The Birth Of Afrofuturism

[clifford_thornton]

It is. I don't love it thus far but I am learning things.

[ghost of miles]

On April 13, 2017 at 0:33 PM, clifford_thornton said:

It is. I don't love it thus far but I am learning things.

The imagined conversations are jarring and irritating, no matter what sources he's rooting them in--suddenly it feels as if we're on the ground of a novel, rather than a cultural-research account. I'm enjoying it for the most part, because it's such an interesting topic, an expansion on areas that Szwed and Corbett have delved into... But any kind of Joe McGinnis Kennedy-walking-on-the-beach moments drive me to distraction in histories or biographies of any sort.

[OliverM]

These imagined conversations sound like a strange idea. Would Szwed still be the first place to go to, or this newer book?

[clifford_thornton]

Szwed.

[ghost of miles]

 

1 hour ago, clifford_thornton said:

Szwed.

Definitely. 

[Rooster_Ties]

Been a fair while since I've read Szwed's Sun Ra book, but I very specifically remember loving his Miles biography, with lots of insights I don't remember having read previously at that point.

That, and he's just a damn good writer, iirc.