tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2171294815895801587.post1991204264124043704..comments2023-10-22T13:06:32.952-04:00Comments on Organizing Grievances: Sumoftha Books (NonFic) I Read in 2009wobbliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13840385151170176977noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2171294815895801587.post-24606955643262553692009-12-26T13:14:18.238-05:002009-12-26T13:14:18.238-05:00Alex Ross - The Rest is Noise; 20th century in ...Alex Ross - <i>The Rest is Noise</i>; 20th century in 'classical' music, damned if I've yet <i>heard</i> more than 1%, but it's good to read about it.<br />David Simon (& Ed Burns) - <i>Homicide</i> & <i>The Corner</i>; the latter is surprisingly political, more like an overt polemic than the Wire itself.<br />Declan Kiberd - <i>Ulysses and Us</i>; sorta self-explanatory, made me understand <i>Ulysses</i> for the first time, without having to go into detailed annotations and instead making a social argument out of the whole thing. He's at the English department in my college.<br /><br />they're the ones that stick in my mind. just finished reading a book on 'The Future of the Internet' from the local library and going to start a book about the French headscarf ban by an American sociologist/anthropologist.<br /><br />also, might be doing a collaborative book blog with a couple of other Irish bloggers, so's I can divert myself from music for a bit.gabbagabbaheyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07764368059568550318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2171294815895801587.post-48330031530854278862009-12-24T06:04:44.498-05:002009-12-24T06:04:44.498-05:00Lex: Here's the non-fiction I've read in t...Lex: Here's the non-fiction I've read in the past yr, most of which was read in an attempt 2 ESCAPE current reality. Hope book- & music-criticism count -- they ain't fiction, right?:<br />Damon Knight's THE FUTURIANS (science-fiction history) & IN SEARCH OF WONDER (SF book reviews.<br />James Blish's THE ISSUE AT HAND & MORE ISSUES AT HAND (reviews).<br />Julie Burchill & Tony Parsons' THE BOY LOOKED AT JOHNNY (about the birth of Punk Rock; disappointing).<br />Ian MacDonald's REVOLUTION IN THE HEAD (in-depth analysis of the Beatles' catalog; re-read).<br />John Blake's ALL YOU NEEDED WAS LOVE (THE BEATLES AFTER THE BEATLES) -- wretched.<br />Robert Christgau's '90s RECORD GUIDE (reviews).<br />Paul Williams' BACK TO THE MIRACLE FACTORY (reviews).<br />Dan Kennedy's ROCK ON (about working at Atlantic Records in the early '00s, funny but....).<br />Hipgnosis' WALK AWAY RENE (album-cover art; re-read).<br />Phil Patton's DREAMLAND (UFOs, high-tech planes, etc).<br />David Darlington's AREA 51 (ditto).<br />John Peel's MARGRAVE OF THE MARSHES (about his long career as a BBC DJ).<br />Thomas Mallon's A BOOK OF ONE'S OWN (about diaries, journals, etc).<br />Most of these books were reviewed at my old website, which recently died. Items near the toppa the list R reviewed at my fairly-new blog, which U R of course welcome 2 visit.<br />...There may B others I've 4gotten. Gave up 130+ pgs in2 Richard Rhodes' BLACK SUN (on the making of the hydrogen bomb), Bcos even tho I'm fascinated by the history (worked at a missile base 1nce), the book was 2 dry, told from 2 great a distance, & from the wrong side, I thot -- 2 much about what the Russians did, not enuf about what WE did.<br />Bn trying 2 read 2 books about English folk-rocker Nick Drake, but neither of them has told me much new -- 1 of them (the more Dpressing 1) tries 2 make the case that Drake was a closet drug addict....<br />Am currently just getting in2 Johnathon Green's DAYS IN THE LIFE, a long oral history about Britain's underground/psychedelic scene in the '60s.<br />NE chance U might write more about music & books in the future? Yr music writing was why I started following OG in the 1st place (& The PrisonShip). There R still only a handful of good music-review sites, & the # of good book-review sites I can count on 1 hand -- GabbaGabbaHey sometimes writes some great stuff at "Steady Diet of Books."<br />Sorry this is so wordy. Merry Xmas! -- TAD.TADhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13853931230081777310noreply@blogger.com