I finished this last week. It's a really good oral history that includes not only the famous bands on the cover but others including (but not limited to) Screaming Trees, Mudhoney, Melvins, and The U-Men.

The title is a phrase from Mudhoney's very funny song "Overblown" which can be found on the Singles soundtrack.

And speaking of books, my lovely wife owns a lovely independent bookshop and is a nominee for Independent Business of the Year:



http://www.independentwestand.org/indies/profile/21

You can vote daily and help make independent businesses great again.

Bill in CT wrote:

I finished this last week. It's a really good oral history that includes not only the famous bands on the cover but others including (but not limited to) Screaming Trees, Mudhoney, Melvins, and The U-Men.

The title is a phrase from Mudhoney's very funny song "Overblown" which can be found on the Singles soundtrack.

Yup. Read this one a few years back. Really enjoyed it.

Dreaming the Beatles by Rob Sheffield - I knew that Rob Sheffield can really write, especially about music. I didn't know that he knows more about the Beatles than I know about any subject. Put those 2 together and we should have a smash hit, right? So what's the problem? I'm not sure, but this book is a fun read, taught me some things I didn't know, made me listen to some songs differently (and possibly better) yet still left me feeling like there should have been more.

I think part of the problem is that the dream in question is Sheffield's wet dream and the reader feels kind of like a voyeur looking through the window. The guy has a thing for the Beatles (nothing wrong w/ that) and has a great desire to share his love and appreciation (that's a good thing). Yet somehow the result is way too self-absorbed with a lot of the conversation being between either Rob and Rob or Rob and a dozen critics/Beatles fanatics who might get some of his obscure references. And the business of incorporating Beatles lyrics into the prose text? Clever the first couple of times, cute the next couple of times, show-offy the next couple and finally just annoying.

At one point, about half way through, the big question in my mind became "will he or won't he" as Sheffield throws out numerous hints and almost suggestions that the core of the Lennon-McCartney relationship is homoerotic (just to be clear, he does not say or even suggest that they actually, you know, did anything about it) but ultimately he shies away from confronting the issue. Given the lack of, ummm, hard evidence, this is probably a good decision but then it just becomes another loose end as we float through Sheffield's brain.

In short, you'll enjoy reading this book and I recommend that you do so, as long as you don't bring too many expectations to it. I can almost guarantee that you'll learn something new or think something different because of Sheffield's insights, but the definitive take on the Beatles remains to be written.

Some other recent reads:

The new (2 books) Peter Ash series by Nick Petrie is already a find while still retaining the promise of better things to come. One of the better new series of recent years. The books are The Drifter and Burning Bright.

So imagine my surprise when after blazing through the 2 Petrie books, I picked up a stand-alone John Lescroart mystery and discovered that one of the main characters is named... Peter Ash Upon reflection, this seemed less wildly bizarre and more mildly coincidental, but still... The book, Fatal is pretty typical Lescroart which is to say dependable w/out being particularly notable. Bonus points for having some characters eat dim sum at Yank Sing, my go to place in San Fran.

Another good and pleasantly surprising new to me series is Andrew Mayne's Jessica Blackwood series, featuring an FBI agent w/ a background as a magician working through issues caused by growing up in a multi-generational family of magicians. Trust me, they're better than that might sound. Black Fall and Angel Killer.

I'm a huge fan of Barry Eisler's Rain series. His books since he ended that series have been uneven and none have risen to the level of the Rain novels but Livia Lone comes close. Fabulous main character, well researched factual background in the seamy world of human trafficking and a plot that keeps the reader hooked w/out being a real mystery.

I read this one over the weekend. It's great! I regret it lived on my to-be-read bookshelf for so long:



That inspired me to pick another one off the shelf. I'm about a third done with this one. It's really good so far:

Rereading my favorite John Irving:

Got nostalgic when I saw this lying around a friend's house... never go back, it still has its moments but it read far better when I was younger.

If someone were to write a book w/ me in mind as the target audience, that someone might well conclude that a mystery or crime thriller set in the music world or somehow involving music would be a sure fire winner. And they'd be right. So why is Crime with Music edited by Jim Fusilli only ok? I think the answer comes down to 2 words: short stories. I'm just not a big fan of the genre and even combining crime with music doesn't get me over that hump. Some of the stories are very good, most of the rest are ok, but as a whole it just didn't work for me. If one shares my interest in crime fiction and music AND likes the short story format, I'm sure this book would be a real delight. Notes: The book includes a story by Willy Vlautin and another by Duane Allman's daughter in which motorcycles figure quite prominently, which, I'm not gonna lie, is pretty damn weird.

Cybercrime thrillers appear to be hard to write primarily because all the techno mumbo jumbo gets in the way. Christopher Brookmyre mostly solves that difficulty in The Last Hack which retains believability without having the technicalities drag down the story or stop the momentum. Recommended especially if you're already a fan of the genre.

Ben Sanders is a writer from New Zealand and that shows as he follows a former cop named Marshall around the southwest and new york city - there's a fair amount of awkwardness, some stilted dialog and some wrong details but the 2 books so far in the series still manage to work pretty well, helped along by some first rate characters and plots that move along fast enough that the momentum easily carries the reader past the less than believable parts. American Blood and Marshall's Law.

I loved David Downing's Jack Russell "train station" WWII spy series so I was a little reluctant to take up his new series about Jack McColl, a WWI-era spy in the early days of MI6. Nothing to worry about - Downing is good and the first book in the new series, Jack of Spies has me eager to tackle the follow-on entries in the series.

I posted this in the main forum but thought it should be here too. Patterson talks books.

Words and Music Podcast: Patterson Hood

The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics by Mark Lilla is barely a book. It's listed at 143 pages, and that's w/ a lot of help from typesetters, designers and whoever else makes all that white space look almost natural. It's really more of an extended magazine/journal essay and the lack of footnotes reinforces its status as "popular journalism" more than rigorous academic writing. But when you've got the goods, size doesn't matter and if the lack of footnotes helps the book reach a broader audience I'm all for it.

This is a really incisive, important book that should be read by everyone who cares about politics in the USA, but especially by anyone who considers themselves to be a Democrat, liberal, leftie, progressive or even merely anti-Trump. I've never heard of Lilla before but apparently he's got a good reputation as a smart, thoughtful guy (he's a professor at Columbia) and smart and thoughtful is what he delivers.

The book is mostly big picture, overview/explanation of trends-type stuff and it is enormously helpful in understanding how we got where we are. His analysis of what he calls the Roosevelt Dispensation morphing into the Reagan Dispensation morphing into today's relative anarchy has the satisfying feel of "yeah, THAT's what I thought even though I didn't know I was thinking it."

His critique of identity politics as practiced by the Democrats, on campus and by the left generally is spot on and in the context in which he places it (i.e. post the 2 major Dispensations) makes a whole lot of sense. As often happens w/ books that are good at identifying and explaining a problem, the "how to fix it" part is less than compelling. In particular, the irony of him telling the left not to preach, lecture and turn everything into a moral and mortal battle over good and evil while he preaches, lectures and turns everything into a moral and mortal battle would be amusing if it weren't such a letdown, but even so, his message is important and largely correct imho. Admittedly Lilla seems to be settling some scores w/ those who apply identity politics to stifle debate and freedom on campus, but that's ok 'cause he's right

His concept of "citizenship" as the complex of rights and obligations that unites us and forms the basis of any lasting political movement is sensible. The related analysis of how leftish politics moved from "outward looking" and "we-based" to inward and self-absorbed has the ring of truth, though it is surprising that he made it through 140 pages w/out once mentioning Christopher Lasch's The Culture of Narcissism. And his observations concerning the reliance on and unsustainability of "forced" changes through the courts and other non-democratic means explains a lot about how the left has found itself where it is today.

As someone who has written/spoken often about the dangers, dead ends and unsatisfying intellectual underpinnings of identity politics, THIS is what I meant even though I never articulated it as well.

The Once and Future Liberal might also be seen as a companion piece to George Lakoff's The Political Mind about which I posted in March, as the latter asks similar questions and addresses similar issues from a different perspective. While they come at things from different backgrounds, Lilla and Lakoff reach similar conclusions about the way issues need to be presented and the ways in which large groups of people hear, process and understand political messages (in a word it's a lot more of an emotional subconscious process than we like to think). If I had to choose one it would be Lilla's books because the central place of identity politics in the current formulation or understanding of leftish politics is to my way of thinking the key issue for anyone who shares similar goals but has significant doubts about the means.

Lilla writes well and clearly which, combined w/ its [lack of] length, makes it a short, easy read well worth your time and attention.

After a recommendation from Jonicont (for her new book) a few pages earlier in the thread I picked this up



I've just finished it and it's one of the best things I've read in ages (alongside the Caro LBJ book). No spoilers but there were a couple of moments when I actually said wow out loud.

I recently finished this and found it very enjoyable.

Loved The Dog Stars.

Got 1/3 of the way into this and jumped ship, and I never do that.

Beebs wrote:

Loved The Dog Stars.

Got 1/3 of the way into this and jumped ship, and I never do that.

Ugh. Hate to hear that. I also loved Dog Stars.

got this one a few months back and today finally pulled it from the massive "to be read" stack on my dresser. Just knocked back 100+ pages like it was nothin', very easy and interesting read, and so far I'm only up to the 78 tour with Sabbath



saw them live 4 times, with the last being the 1984 tour, and they remain one of the best live bands I've ever seen

whatwouldcooleydo? wrote:got this one a few months back and today finally pulled it from the massive "to be read" stack on my dresser. Just knocked back 100+ pages like it was nothin', very easy and interesting read, and so far I'm only up to the 78 tour with Sabbath



saw them live 4 times, with the last being the 1984 tour, and they remain one of the best live bands I've ever seen

Only time I saw them was opening for Sabbath. 1978 sounds about right.

LBRod wrote:

whatwouldcooleydo? wrote:got this one a few months back and today finally pulled it from the massive "to be read" stack on my dresser. Just knocked back 100+ pages like it was nothin', very easy and interesting read, and so far I'm only up to the 78 tour with Sabbath



saw them live 4 times, with the last being the 1984 tour, and they remain one of the best live bands I've ever seen

Only time I saw them was opening for Sabbath. 1978 sounds about right.

Was that Selland Arena? Pretty sure a soundboard of Sabbath circulates for Fresno 78.... OK, just checked my archives, I have a Fresno 78 recording for which the text files indicates that it is most likely a HQ audience that has led some to think it's a board.

Check this out from 77

Good old Selland Arena. Sabbath played well, but seemed old and tired after the insanity of young Van Halen.

LBRod wrote:Good old Selland Arena. Sabbath played well, but seemed old and tired after the insanity of young Van Halen.

In the book there are several quotes from Sabbath fully acknowledging that VH whooped their ass each and every night of the tour

Came damn close to finishing the book last night until I heard, “turn off the damn booklight!”

Got this for Christmas and am really enjoying it. Rather than the usual Elvis walking into Sun lore, it's an in-the-weeds retelling of the wide variety of regional labels and radio shows and lesser-known artists that got the ball rolling.

just finished this



then started this last night

scotto wrote:Got this for Christmas and am really enjoying it. Rather than the usual Elvis walking into Sun lore, it's an in-the-weeds retelling of the wide variety of regional labels and radio shows and lesser-known artists that got the ball rolling.

Hadn't heard of this. Will be interested to check it out.

Many, many books to catch up on. Just to get the ball rolling:

Don Winslow: How is it possible that an author can write 19 high quality books, many in genres that I enjoy and I've never heard of him? I find this distressing but OTOH, what a joy to have this much good stuff to dive into. Of particular note so far: The Force and The Cartel. The blurbs for the former proclaim it as the best book ever about big city policing. I'm not sure about that, but it's got to be a contender. Really captures the flavor of NYC and policing. The Cartel seems to be remarkably factually accurate and tells the truly incredible tale of how the cartels came to dominate Mexico. It really brings home the cost of so much violence and corruption in a very readable even fascinating way by humanizing it.

Gangsterland and Gangster Nation by Tod Goldberg: The central conceit of these 2 books is both hysterical and fascinating. I wish I could share it but I don't want to ruin it for anyone who decides to check them out. Combining the mob and humor while maintaining some credibility is no easy task but Goldberg pulls it off. Some of the best, quirkiest characters in recent memory remarkably insightful in the way that only works billed as "comedies" can be. Subversive.

beantownbubba wrote:Many, many books to catch up on. Just to get the ball rolling:



Gangsterland and Gangster Nation by Tod Goldberg: The central conceit of these 2 books is both hysterical and fascinating. I wish I could share it but I don't want to ruin it for anyone who decides to check them out. Combining the mob and humor while maintaining some credibility is no easy task but Goldberg pulls it off. Some of the best, quirkiest characters in recent memory remarkably insightful in the way that only works billed as "comedies" can be. Subversive.

I have those (thanks, OBL!) but haven't started either yet. Currently halfway into "Sleeping Beauties" by King & King.