Posts Tagged Book Review
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March 10, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
Ross Murray: Rufus Marigold
Rufus Marigold Ross Murray Earth’s End Ross Murray’s Rufus Marigold comic strip began life online – now it’s a book – expanded, new panels, new stories. It’s a wonderful examination of social anxiety. Much like Brent Williams’ powerful Out of the Woods graphic novel it is doing great work for explaining lived-experience with mental illness; for normalising, de-stigmatising. I’m not an anxiety-sufferer, but, like anyone, […]Archive
January 22, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
Ali Whitelock: and my heart crumples like a coke can
and my heart crumples like a coke can Ali Whitelock Wakefield Press I finished reading Ali Whitelock’s poetry volume the day I heard of Mary Oliver’s passing. I had been savouring the pages of “coke can”, taking my time, reading no more than four poems in a sitting; deep stories, they require a lot of you (in the best possible way), they sit with […]Archive
January 9, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
John Cooper Clarke: The Luckiest Guy Alive
The Luckiest Guy Alive John Cooper Clarke Picador “Dr.” John Cooper Clarke is, like our own Sam Hunt, perhaps better known for his voice, for his performances, rather than actual words on the page. Both have published books, been anthologised, and recorded audio – but it’s about the spirit of the performance on the night; […]Archive
December 20, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Parker Posey: You’re On An Airplane
You’re On An Airplane: A Self-Mythologizing Memoir Parker Posey Blue Rider Press In the 1990s Parker Posey started appearing in movies; quirky films, funny films. She was savage or sexy or cheeky or some combination of those things – she was weird and wonderful, a little odd and a lot of wonderful. She was a […]Archive
December 9, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Michael Diamond/Adam Horovitz: Beastie Boys Book
Beastie Boys Book Michael Diamond/Adam Horovitz Spiegel & Grau It finally arrived – after so much talk and plenty of hype, the memoir of The Beastie Boys written by its two surviving members. When Adam Yauch (MCA) died from cancer in 2012 that was the end of the group. Respectfully and realistically Michael Diamond (Mike […]Archive
September 8, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Kristin Hersh: Nerve Endings – Selected Lyrics
Nerve Endings: Selected Lyrics Kristin Hersh Unbound Though I’m a sucker for a book of lyrics I usually read and discard – realising as I’m reading it that most lyrics deserve to hang in the air, are made for the stage more so than the page; it’s nice to check in with them, really ever […]Archive
August 21, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Ezra Furman: Lou Reed’s Transformer (33 1/3)
Lou Reed’s Transformer (33 1/3) Ezra Furman Bloomsbury Academic The death of the album – so greatly exaggerated. And the 33 1/3 series of books in tribute to classic albums (old and new) continues to trot out the titles. Here, musician Ezra Furman looks at Lou Reed’s Transformer album in this volume of the same […]Archive
June 9, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
James Rhodes: Fire On All Sides
Fire On All Sides James Rhodes Quercus James Rhodes, the classical pianist with rock’n’roll swagger, is a prodigy-level player that’s not there to please the purists but is – in his love of the music and his ability as conduit for it – far closer to being a purist than any of the snobs he […]Archive
April 24, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Brett Anderson: Coal Black Mornings
Coal Black Mornings Brett Anderson Little, Brown [This review originally appeared at The Spinoff] We are drawn, so often, to music memoirs for the clichés of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll. The very best ones, however, ignore these tenets. Think Patti Smith’s Just Kids or Bob Dylan’s Chronicles. They also exist for both the mouth-breathing, moisty-palmed […]Archive
March 3, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Gabrielle Union: We’re Going To Need More Wine
We’re Going To Need More Wine: Stories Gabrielle Union Dey Street Books A memoir – in stories, We’re Going To Need More Wine is candid, well written. It’s both funny and heart-breaking. You know Gabrielle Union from so many movies and TV shows – but she was the ugly duckling at school, or so she […]Archive
February 28, 2018 by Simon Sweetman