Showing posts with label new york city. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new york city. Show all posts

Moss Hart: A Prince of the Theater Review

Moss Hart: A Prince of the Theater
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The reader interested in Moss Hart and the golden age of Broadway will be much better served by going directly to Steven Bach's biography. Brown's workmanlike tome is short on style, short on feeling for the era (something Bach provides in spades), and the material from Hart's diaries doesn't amount to much. Compare Bach's thrilling re-telling of the birth of MY FAIR LADY with Brown's tepid version, to name one instance, and you'll see why Bach's is by far the better book. DAZZLER is indeed dazzling; Brown's PRINCE does nothing to de-throne Bach's definitive bio and lacks---dare I say---Hart.

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Nabokov: Novels, 1969-1974 (Library of America) Review

Nabokov: Novels, 1969-1974 (Library of America)
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This is a good collection of some of Nabokov's most diverse work. Ada is a beautiful discourse on philosophy and incest that rivals the classic Lolita. Transparent Things is a short but extremely dense book, written in an amazing narrative; a personal favorite. Look At The Harlequins is a fascinating autobiography told theough the perspective of an author with a parallel life. A very worthy buy!

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North River: A Novel Review

North River: A Novel
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Pete Hamill's writing is a joy to read. Sometimes you need to read a book where there is a happy ending. His descriptions of New York City during the Depression actually outshine his characters and his charaters are really portrayed magnificantly, especially his main characters. This is a good read, no high brow stuff here, meat and potatoes love story New York style. But it is a love story of many people on different levels, not just two people in love. This is one of the few books I read as I was reading it there was an actual picture in my mind of what was going on. Many books you read you would rather not have a picture of the action. Again no great revelations here but a heart warming love story, on many different levels. Read it.

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The Lost Girls: Three Friends. Four Continents. One Unconventional Detour Around the World. Review

The Lost Girls: Three Friends. Four Continents. One Unconventional Detour Around the World.
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Reviewing this book and deciding how many stars to give it was difficult. I was torn between reviewing the actual book and the threesome's journey. The idea of abandoning successful lives and embarking on a year long expedition around the globe is without a doubt 5-star worthy. I'm jealous that they had the guts to take the leap, to be honest. The actual book itself, though, fell a little flat.
What Kept Me Reading
- The book changes locales often, providing the reader with the ability to see places all over the world that are off the beaten track. If I was thinking about doing this sort of trip these probably wouldn't necessarily be the places I'd think of visiting, but it was a nice tour.
- I appreciated how the narration was done- it divided the book up well (this is actually a downfall too... see below).
- The girls are honest about burn-out and conflicting emotions about the people, places, and jobs they left back home.
Not Quite Good Enough
- The writing style really annoyed me, especially when they laid it on thick. I know it's a travel log and they want to be descriptive, but the authors frequently over did it (along the lines of, "I sipped my steaming, bitter, hot coffee from the shiny white plastic top that had been tightly placed on top of the thick cardboard cup by the boyish barista who was wearing a bright green apron with dark stains on the front." This isn't actually in the book, but you can see there is some major adjective overkill).
- The three girls each tell their different stories, but, honestly, they really don't have their own narrative personalities. Yeah, they have different back-stories and a few personality quirks, but I'd often have to look at the bottom of the page to remember whose section I was reading.
- There's nothing in the book that is truly, truly exciting. They have adventurous spirits, obviously, but I everything was just portrayed in a very-low key way that was a bit disappointing. I didn't always feel the enthusiasm that I am sure was there.
- There are no pictures! A few black and white ones of their favorite places would have been nice, at least.
Again, I really admire these three women. They are brave, strong, resourceful, and extremely adept to new situations. I think one issue too is that they are used to writing blogs and articles- a 500+ page book is an entirely different beast.

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On the Town in New York: The Landmark History of Eating, Drinking, and Entertainments from the American Revolution to the Food Revolution Review

On the Town in New York: The Landmark History of Eating, Drinking, and Entertainments from the American Revolution to the Food Revolution
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Michael and Ariane Batterby have given us, in ON THE TOWN IN NEW YORK, a fairly comprehensive look at New Yorkers doing what they do best: eating and partying. I appreciate the earlier reviewer's complaint about historical inaccuracies--he's right, they are BIG errors. However, as a serious investigation into what New Yorkers put in their stomachs, I was pleasantly enlightened. Turtle Soup?! Turtle Soup?! What the...?
I loved the reprints of the menus of hoidy-toidy restaurants. It really gives you a sense of extravagance bordering on gluttony that went on in 19th Century NYC. And then there are the vivid chapters of New Yorkers at play: The Stork Club, The El Morocco, etc. The all-night bashes of the 20th Century, as well as extravagant somber dinners of the 19th Century are wonderfully described. (Note: The number of eateries that were brought down by organized crime seemed a little inflated. I know it ruined many a joint, but all the joints presented in the book? I had a hard time swallowing that. Pun intended.)
As a History, no, I would not base a dissertation on it. As a thorouhghly enjoyable look back at a world now long gone and what the people ate and did in it, I wish to pay my compliments to the chefs. Delicioso!

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The Rings of Saturn Review

The Rings of Saturn
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Sebald's book is full of destruction and loss, yet hope radiates from the objects that remain. The author is deeply curious and impressively educated, which allows him to see cycles of life and death in cities, buildings, artifacts, and engravings. A marvelous storyteller, he weaves fantastic yarns so full of digressions that the reader seems to be dreaming. "I'll just push to the end of the chapter," I would think, but when I reached it, the pattern of each story was so plain, the sense of distance so sharp that my head was clear, my mind refreshed. I'd be left with a few strands of meaning that would serve as the warp for the woof of the next chapter. I was never sure where Sebald was going on his ramble through Suffolk - it was almost like accompanying a somnambulist - but in the end I had entered his dream and luminous ghosts paraded before me, full of light and forgiveness. Leaving the spell of his book, I looked at the old, familiar world with new horror and wonder, a stranger on a new planet with my first inkling of the real story.

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Actual Innocence: Five Days to Execution, and Other Dispatches From the Wrongly Convicted Review

Actual Innocence: Five Days to Execution, and Other Dispatches From the Wrongly Convicted
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Everyone with a heart, brain, soul and/or conscience must read this book.
This book tells the stories of many men who were convicted unjustly. While I expected to learn of the stories of the men who were proven "actually innocent" by DNA, I didn't expect to find that in doing so it exposed many other injustices as well.
What I found was that while DNA was the catalyst, and the ultimate proof that set these men free - it did far more than that. It was because of the DNA evidence that the courts were forced to see that there are far more flaws the justice system than any of us would like to admit.
I found myself alternately fascinated and appalled throughout this book.
What truly amazed me was that "actual innocence" is not the be all and end all in the courts as it should be. I was floored that even though a person could be proven "actually innocent" via DNA, there were still hoops that lawyers had to leap through to obtain justice.
I would urge everyone who reads this book to take note to the suggestions peppered throughout and take action to make the changes necessary (whether it be on the state or federal level) to make sure that the guilty are punished, not the innocent.
For anyone who thinks that this book is for "bleeding-heart liberals", remember this - for every person unjustly imprisoned, and God forbid, sentenced to death - there is the very real probability that the real perpetrator is still out there.
I would urge EVERYONE to buy this book and learn from it.
I would really like to give this book a rating much higher that five (5) stars, as I believe it should serve as an educational experience for all of us.
Don't remain anonymous - buy this book, learn from it and act.

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Zora Neale Hurston : Novels and Stories : Jonah's Gourd Vine / Their Eyes Were Watching God / Moses, Man of the Mountain / Seraph on the Suwanee / Selected Stories (Library of America) Review

Zora Neale Hurston : Novels and Stories : Jonah's Gourd Vine / Their Eyes Were Watching God / Moses, Man of the Mountain / Seraph on the Suwanee / Selected Stories (Library of America)
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If Ms Hurston finally gets the readers she deserves, she will take her place among America's finest writers of the 20th Century. She is a joy to read and repays second and third perusals. The oral narrative quality of her writing places her squarely in the company of the best of her Southern contemporaries. She shares their great gifts. By all means, don't deny yourself the pleasure of reading her work.

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