1989, two copies, both possibly first edition, from Methuen
Roger Wilmut and Peter Rosengard
Didn't You Kill My Mother-in-Law?: The Story of Alternative Comedy in Britain from The Comedy Store to Saturday Live
Original price £7.99, purchase prices £3.50 and $6.50
Worn paperbacks, one with breaking spine, other with a bit of my writing in it
B-
I bought one of these in England in 1996, hoping it would include information on the cast of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, the improv comedy/game show that premiered in '88. There's not much, nor is there much on Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, or other comedians who I was interested in then and now. Still, it's an interesting read, with British "alternative" comedy developing in a very different way than the roots of Saturday Night Live. The "no racist or sexist jokes" rule at the Comedy Store is hard to imagine in most American venues, especially nowadays. (Out gay/lesbian comics also seem to have broken through earlier in the U.K.) The title plays on both the Comic Strip Film Didn't You Kill My Brother? and on the rejection of mother-in-law jokes and similar. Rosengard opened the London Comedy Store after visiting the one in L.A. Wilmut wrote the bulk of the book though. I'm using the "television criticism" tag because Wilmot quotes from and critiques not just the stand-ups but from the television programmes that these comics made, e.g. The Young Ones.
I got the second copy of this book back in the U.S. not long after my return. Since my ex-husband and I enjoyed British comedy, I wrote notes in this one and sent it to him. When he got rid of most of his possessions during an ill-fated move, I ended up with his copy again and he's never asked for it back. So I'll keep that one and donate the British copy to my favorite bookstore.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Sunday, June 2, 2013
The Temple of My Familiar
1989, 1990 Pocket Books edition
Alice Walker
The Temple of My Familiar
Bought newish for $5.95
Very worn paperback
C-
As with The Color Purple, this book is not as good as it was 20+ years ago. Although it engaged me more this time than Purple, it also annoyed me more. I found the most interesting character to be the half-sister of the granddaughter of Celie from the previous book. (The family tree is complicated, particularly when you factor in reincarnation.) She's just about the only one who feels like she's living a life, rather than just proving a thesis. Everyone, including her but especially Miss Lissie, is given to speech-making and educating each other and the reader. I was especially annoyed when two characters discusses Quicksand, such a superior book. While there is a part of me that is sympathetic to Walker's feminist paganist vision, I would rather have read that material in the form of poetry (and I generally don't like poetry), or had her make plausible characters first, and have their "growth" genuinely emerge.
Alice Walker
The Temple of My Familiar
Bought newish for $5.95
Very worn paperback
C-
As with The Color Purple, this book is not as good as it was 20+ years ago. Although it engaged me more this time than Purple, it also annoyed me more. I found the most interesting character to be the half-sister of the granddaughter of Celie from the previous book. (The family tree is complicated, particularly when you factor in reincarnation.) She's just about the only one who feels like she's living a life, rather than just proving a thesis. Everyone, including her but especially Miss Lissie, is given to speech-making and educating each other and the reader. I was especially annoyed when two characters discusses Quicksand, such a superior book. While there is a part of me that is sympathetic to Walker's feminist paganist vision, I would rather have read that material in the form of poetry (and I generally don't like poetry), or had her make plausible characters first, and have their "growth" genuinely emerge.
Friday, May 31, 2013
The Joy Luck Club
1989, 2006 Penguin edition
Amy Tan
The Joy Luck Club
Original price $14.00, bought used for $4.20
Worn paperback
B-
I recently got a bunch of VHS releases for 49 cents each at Goodwill. They were mostly comedies, so perhaps it's not surprising that the one which made me cry (several times) was the 1993 adaptation of this book. In fact, I'd argue that this is a case of the film (co-written by Tan) being an improvement over the novel. For one thing, the structure of this book, with its four four-segmented parts, is harder to follow than the film's pairing of each daughter and mother. For another, when one character admits, almost in passing, to having an abortion, there's just not the impact of seeing that character drown an adorable baby boy of a few months old. That said, I didn't feel like another character's abandonment of her twin baby girls hit as hard in the movie, partly because she didn't look like she was as ill as she's supposed to be. (The detail of the bleeding hands is strangely omitted.) On the other hand, the movie actually gave me more of a sense of the friendships among the "club."
As for the book on its own terms, I liked the glimpses into lives so different from other fiction I own, the mothers' youths in China especially. There are moments that feel like they're out of fairy tales, and then there's the shock of remembering that they happen in the 1930s and '40s. The book goes up to 1987, and includes a line about the fear of catching AIDS from a gay hairstylist. (This was omitted in the movie, a sign of increased tolerance, although I think Tan originally put it in to show how opinionated Waverly is.) Also, there's a sense that many (maybe all) of the younger generation here are Yuppies.
I don't think I read this book at the time, but I certainly did by the time I heard Tan speak in my college town in 1994. (Very funny speech, much funnier and wiser than this book actually.) I went on to read The Kitchen God's Wife, which we'll get to in 1991.
Amy Tan
The Joy Luck Club
Original price $14.00, bought used for $4.20
Worn paperback
B-
I recently got a bunch of VHS releases for 49 cents each at Goodwill. They were mostly comedies, so perhaps it's not surprising that the one which made me cry (several times) was the 1993 adaptation of this book. In fact, I'd argue that this is a case of the film (co-written by Tan) being an improvement over the novel. For one thing, the structure of this book, with its four four-segmented parts, is harder to follow than the film's pairing of each daughter and mother. For another, when one character admits, almost in passing, to having an abortion, there's just not the impact of seeing that character drown an adorable baby boy of a few months old. That said, I didn't feel like another character's abandonment of her twin baby girls hit as hard in the movie, partly because she didn't look like she was as ill as she's supposed to be. (The detail of the bleeding hands is strangely omitted.) On the other hand, the movie actually gave me more of a sense of the friendships among the "club."
As for the book on its own terms, I liked the glimpses into lives so different from other fiction I own, the mothers' youths in China especially. There are moments that feel like they're out of fairy tales, and then there's the shock of remembering that they happen in the 1930s and '40s. The book goes up to 1987, and includes a line about the fear of catching AIDS from a gay hairstylist. (This was omitted in the movie, a sign of increased tolerance, although I think Tan originally put it in to show how opinionated Waverly is.) Also, there's a sense that many (maybe all) of the younger generation here are Yuppies.
I don't think I read this book at the time, but I certainly did by the time I heard Tan speak in my college town in 1994. (Very funny speech, much funnier and wiser than this book actually.) I went on to read The Kitchen God's Wife, which we'll get to in 1991.
Spy Notes on...All Those...Hip Urban Novels of the 1980s
1989, first edition, from Doubleday
The editors of Spy
Spy Notes on McInerney's Bright Lights, Big City, Janowitz's Slaves of New York, Ellis's Less Than Zero...and All Those Other Hip Urban Novels of the 1980s
Bought newish for $7.95
Worn paperback
C+
I'm not the best audience for this book, never having read any of the novels in question, and not much of Cliff Notes either. Still, the helpfully and repeatedly labeled "satire" serves the purpose of my never having to read these novels written by people who were a few years older than I was at the time they first published. The Spy folks summarize and comment drily on the nihilism, narcissism, and ineptitude of the writing. It gets to be a bit much, although this book is less than 100 pages. Kudos on the Spy Novel-o-Matic, the sort of thing MAD Magazine used to do, albeit usually better.
This completes a short shelf that began with Cockburn's Corruptions of Empire. I was able to move 1991 over to this bookcase, but I'm waiting to see if I can also move over '92. That will affect the final distribution of the shelves.
The editors of Spy
Spy Notes on McInerney's Bright Lights, Big City, Janowitz's Slaves of New York, Ellis's Less Than Zero...and All Those Other Hip Urban Novels of the 1980s
Bought newish for $7.95
Worn paperback
C+
I'm not the best audience for this book, never having read any of the novels in question, and not much of Cliff Notes either. Still, the helpfully and repeatedly labeled "satire" serves the purpose of my never having to read these novels written by people who were a few years older than I was at the time they first published. The Spy folks summarize and comment drily on the nihilism, narcissism, and ineptitude of the writing. It gets to be a bit much, although this book is less than 100 pages. Kudos on the Spy Novel-o-Matic, the sort of thing MAD Magazine used to do, albeit usually better.
This completes a short shelf that began with Cockburn's Corruptions of Empire. I was able to move 1991 over to this bookcase, but I'm waiting to see if I can also move over '92. That will affect the final distribution of the shelves.
The Clothes Have No Emperor
1989, edition from later that year, from St. Martin's Press
Paul Slansky
The Clothes Have No Emperor: A Chronicle of the American '80s
Original price $12.95, bought used for $4.90
Slightly worn paperback
B-
I haven't bought very many books since I started this project, since I'm trying to stay focused on whichever time period I'm in at the moment. But when I was reliving an earlier part of the '80s a few months ago, I couldn't resist getting this book. I didn't mind rereading it so soon, because it nicely sums up so much of what drove me mad about the decade. I can't rate it higher because, well, you know, it's not that enjoyable a decade to relive. (And I disagree with Slansky on some of his comments about the music, the one aspect of the decade I can still stomach.)
Slansky's introduction says in part, "I did not find the President's ignorance charming. I was unwarmed by his genial head-waggling, unreassured by his stern frowns of manly purpose, uncheered by his hearty waves as he strolled to and from his limos and choppers and jets." Wow, do I wish I could've got this book at the time it came out! That's exactly how I felt in the '80s. Unlike Slansky, I had neither the motivation nor the resources to collect news items (including "infotainment") reflecting the times. He's arranged the chronicle chronologically (of course), from Election Day 1980 to Inauguration Day 1989, so yes, there's some of Dan Quayle here. (Not as much as in Airhead Apparent, which Slansky coauthored, and which we'll get to in 1992.) Future rivals George W. Bush and Al Gore make appearances (more of the latter of course, since he ran in '88), but dig this for irony: "a comically endless nominating speech by Arkansas governor Bill Clinton (who parlays his public humiliation into a guest shot with Johnny Carson)." I think he parlayed it into a bit more than that.
For Slansky's more recent thoughts on Reagan, and a plug for the e-book version of this long-out-of-print work, see http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-slansky-/spoiler-alert-i-was-not-a_b_818948.html.
Paul Slansky
The Clothes Have No Emperor: A Chronicle of the American '80s
Original price $12.95, bought used for $4.90
Slightly worn paperback
B-
I haven't bought very many books since I started this project, since I'm trying to stay focused on whichever time period I'm in at the moment. But when I was reliving an earlier part of the '80s a few months ago, I couldn't resist getting this book. I didn't mind rereading it so soon, because it nicely sums up so much of what drove me mad about the decade. I can't rate it higher because, well, you know, it's not that enjoyable a decade to relive. (And I disagree with Slansky on some of his comments about the music, the one aspect of the decade I can still stomach.)
Slansky's introduction says in part, "I did not find the President's ignorance charming. I was unwarmed by his genial head-waggling, unreassured by his stern frowns of manly purpose, uncheered by his hearty waves as he strolled to and from his limos and choppers and jets." Wow, do I wish I could've got this book at the time it came out! That's exactly how I felt in the '80s. Unlike Slansky, I had neither the motivation nor the resources to collect news items (including "infotainment") reflecting the times. He's arranged the chronicle chronologically (of course), from Election Day 1980 to Inauguration Day 1989, so yes, there's some of Dan Quayle here. (Not as much as in Airhead Apparent, which Slansky coauthored, and which we'll get to in 1992.) Future rivals George W. Bush and Al Gore make appearances (more of the latter of course, since he ran in '88), but dig this for irony: "a comically endless nominating speech by Arkansas governor Bill Clinton (who parlays his public humiliation into a guest shot with Johnny Carson)." I think he parlayed it into a bit more than that.
For Slansky's more recent thoughts on Reagan, and a plug for the e-book version of this long-out-of-print work, see http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-slansky-/spoiler-alert-i-was-not-a_b_818948.html.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
The Heart of Rock & Soul
1989, undated later edition, from New American Library
Dave Marsh
The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made
Original price $14.95, purchase price $5.95
Very worn paperback with split spine
B-
As the main title says, this is a more soul-based view of rock than usual for music criticism, with the co-author of 1981's Rock Lists showing why these are his favorite songs. As he explains, even focusing on singles rather than albums went against the then common practice. In one of the later entries, he ponders the future of singles, with CDs having for the most part replaced cassettes and records. Although I don't follow pop music as much as I did 15 to 35 years ago, I get the impression that there are still "hits," and ironically the advent of Amazon and other downloadable music sites (including free) seems to have strengthened a piecemeal approach to music-listening.
As with Rock Lists, I don't have to agree with Marsh, or even have heard all of the songs here, to find this an entertaining read. He goes from highest to lowest, sometimes grouping songs that he feels have a dialogue with each other (same song, same artist, or same theme). True, there were times when a title would give me an earworm for the wrong song (often something from my '70s childhood rather than a more obscure r & b number from 20 years earlier). Even with his #1, I'm less likely to think of Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" than CCR's or Gladys Knight's. His #1001 is "No Way Out" by Joyce Harris, which I just listened to on Youtube, and it does feel like a borderline classic. His reviews range from the brevity of "Just say yes" for "A Lover's Question" to the almost four pages on "We Are the World."
The songs go from 1951 to 1988, although Marsh admits that almost half are from the 1960s. He was born in 1950, and it's very much a Baby-Boomer's perspective, politically and otherwise. I do appreciate, especially after the sludgy sexism of '90s Look Back, that he respects feminism, even if he doesn't agree with some segments of it. (The part about people not taking Madonna seriously enough would quickly became outdated.) And of course the book is more racially integrated than a lot of rock criticism, then and now.
Dave Marsh
The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made
Original price $14.95, purchase price $5.95
Very worn paperback with split spine
B-
As the main title says, this is a more soul-based view of rock than usual for music criticism, with the co-author of 1981's Rock Lists showing why these are his favorite songs. As he explains, even focusing on singles rather than albums went against the then common practice. In one of the later entries, he ponders the future of singles, with CDs having for the most part replaced cassettes and records. Although I don't follow pop music as much as I did 15 to 35 years ago, I get the impression that there are still "hits," and ironically the advent of Amazon and other downloadable music sites (including free) seems to have strengthened a piecemeal approach to music-listening.
As with Rock Lists, I don't have to agree with Marsh, or even have heard all of the songs here, to find this an entertaining read. He goes from highest to lowest, sometimes grouping songs that he feels have a dialogue with each other (same song, same artist, or same theme). True, there were times when a title would give me an earworm for the wrong song (often something from my '70s childhood rather than a more obscure r & b number from 20 years earlier). Even with his #1, I'm less likely to think of Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" than CCR's or Gladys Knight's. His #1001 is "No Way Out" by Joyce Harris, which I just listened to on Youtube, and it does feel like a borderline classic. His reviews range from the brevity of "Just say yes" for "A Lover's Question" to the almost four pages on "We Are the World."
The songs go from 1951 to 1988, although Marsh admits that almost half are from the 1960s. He was born in 1950, and it's very much a Baby-Boomer's perspective, politically and otherwise. I do appreciate, especially after the sludgy sexism of '90s Look Back, that he respects feminism, even if he doesn't agree with some segments of it. (The part about people not taking Madonna seriously enough would quickly became outdated.) And of course the book is more racially integrated than a lot of rock criticism, then and now.
Number the Stars
1989, 1990 Yearling edition
Lois Lowry
Number the Stars
Original price unknown, purchase price $3.75
Very worn paperback
C+
Although this won the Newbery and deals with the serious topic of Denmark saving its Jewish population, I didn't find it to have any more depth than one of Lowry's "Anastasia" books, and a great deal less than Summer to Die. In fact, although the reading level is 5.2 and the interest level ages 10 to 14, I found the writing style aimed at a much younger level. It is ironic though that it's the first novel I own where cocaine affects the plot (with guard dogs). Read it for the history lesson but I suspect that there are better World War II stories for children. (None spring immediately to mind.)
Lois Lowry
Number the Stars
Original price unknown, purchase price $3.75
Very worn paperback
C+
Although this won the Newbery and deals with the serious topic of Denmark saving its Jewish population, I didn't find it to have any more depth than one of Lowry's "Anastasia" books, and a great deal less than Summer to Die. In fact, although the reading level is 5.2 and the interest level ages 10 to 14, I found the writing style aimed at a much younger level. It is ironic though that it's the first novel I own where cocaine affects the plot (with guard dogs). Read it for the history lesson but I suspect that there are better World War II stories for children. (None spring immediately to mind.)
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