Posts Tagged Books That Blew My Mind
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September 10, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Books That Blew My Mind # 8: “The Executioner’s Song” by Norman Mailer
The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer I loved Norman Mailer before I read him – because of his book, The Fight, and specifically his appearances in the great documentary, When We Were Kings. Of course I would go on to read The Fight – and it really is a work of genius, one of the […]Archive
June 2, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Books That Blew My Mind # 7: “You’re A Good Sport, Charlie Brown” by Charles M. Schulz
You’re A Good Sport, Charlie Brown by Charles M. Schulz The Arrow Book Club. We were so lucky. Mum would always let me buy something. Just one book. But every time. I realise only now what a huge privilege that was – and what a golden opportunity. Books were encouraged always, and I’m trying to […]Archive
March 3, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Books That Blew My Mind # 6: “Wilson” by Daniel Clowes
Wilson by Daniel Clowes I guess my introduction to Daniel Clowes was the movie Ghost World – and then much later I read the collected strips of it when published as a single-volume graphic. There was probably the movie Art School Confidential in there too before I ever got to the comics. But in the […]Archive
January 29, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Books That Blew My Mind # 4: “Faithfull” by Marianne Faithfull
Faithfull by Marianne Faithfull (w/ David Dalton) Was reminiscing about this just recently; recommending it to my sister-in-law, saying that it was one of the great rock’n’roll reads actually. It found me at a formative time, I was at the peak of my Stones fandom and I was newly interested in all the characters – […]Archive
January 22, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Books That Blew My Mind # 3: “Can’t and Won’t” by Lydia Davis
Can’t and Won’t by Lydia Davis I could have picked another book by Lydia Davis – I could have picked from a few and probably I should highlight Varieties of Disturbancesince that was my introduction to this incredible writer. But Can’t and Won’t – which I reviewed back when I read it in 2014 as […]Archive
December 28, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Books That Blew My Mind # 2: “Run With The Hunted” by Charles Bukowski
Run With The Hunted: A Charles Bukowski Reader by Charles Bukowski I couldn’t really write about Charles Bukowski for my Authors I Admire series because there’s not a lot to admire – beyond the fact that as a writer, not as a human being, he did the time behind the typewriter. But I can rave […]Archive
December 18, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Books That Blew My Mind # 1: “Is That It?” by Bob Geldof
Is That It?, by Bob Geldof I’m often asked what my favourite music bio is – or favourite “music book” – and the answer I usually want to give is this, Bob Geldof’s autobiography. Except it isn’t really about music – and it wasn’t really the book that lit the fuse for me. It was […]Archive
December 17, 2020 by Simon Sweetman