Archive for June, 2013
Nothing Serious: book review
Posted by Amy Steele in Books on June 25, 2013
Nothing Serious by Daniel Klein. Publisher: The Permanent Press (2013). Fiction. 216 pages. ISBN13: 9781579623142.
After working in the 1980’s and 1990’s for The Village Voice and New York Magazine– a glorious time to work in print journalism—the pot-smoking, elitist Digby Maxwell finds himself out of work. What happens when a New York trend spotter accepts a position at a small Vermont college to edit and modernize a failing philosophical journal? Everything. It forces Digby Maxwell much self-reflection and compromise.
Author Daniel Klein [himself a Harvard graduate in philosophy] writes: “The source of this talent, he believes, is his aptitude for empathy in the service of exploiting rather than helping his fellow man. He picked up quickening vibes where others only picked up cacophony; he detected subconscious whims in the unconscious masses.” As Digby familiarizes himself with the Cogito staff and attempts to bring the coolness factor to the magazine it becomes clear that either Digby’s fooling everyone or he’s the fool.
For decades in Manhattan, Digby chose the cool bands, coffee shops and various social trends well before his readers had heard about them. He lived a lavish and comfortable lifestyle. Paid well for his editing and writing and most likely guest-listed for art gallery openings, clubs, concerts and receiving all the latest wonder products gratis. At Cogito, Digby must come to terms with his waning power and lack of relevance as the editorial world changes. However he’s not quick to relinquish his abilities and ideas. The first issue he edits will focus exclusively on Heaven, not a popular choice with the staff or with the journal’s sponsors. Klein writes: “The ad pulls by those stodgy university presses are actually a testimony to his innovative genius; they simply cannot keep up with him.”
Taking the fish-out –of-water novel to an innovative, brilliant level, Klein writes a witty, crisp, intellectually amusing and thoughtful novel about a writer and editor coming to terms with not being at the zeitgeist. Any wordsmith, consummate reader will appreciate well-designed sentences such as: “Yet finally discerning the pattern of Felcia’s deviousness brings him a dulcet dose of peace.” Nothing Serious is a brilliant meditation on print media and its changing format and relevance.
RATING: ****/5
–review by Amy Steele
FTC Disclosure: I received this book for review from The Permanent Press.
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STEELE INTERVIEWS: John Moen [Perhapst, The Decemberists]
Posted by Amy Steele in Interview, Music on June 23, 2013
Perhapst is a side-project for The Decemberists’ percussionist John Moen. The songs on the sophomore album, Revise Your Maps, contain varied instrumentation, gorgeous arrangements and soothing vocals. It’s mellower, personal and intimate–a welcome departure from The Decemberists [one of my favorite bands]. No one wants someone’s side-project to sound too much like the band he’s been in for years. A side project is the time to stretch, experiment and to express one’s individuality and John Moen certainly does that. He steps out behind the drum kit and proves to be a lovely singer/songwriter.
Recently John took some time to answer a few questions about the latest Perhapst album.
Amy Steele [AS]: This is a beautiful album. It sounds so different from The Decemberists—one of my favorite bands– which doesn’t happen when a lot of people in bands go off on their own. What have you learned from being in The Decemberists and what enabled you to do a solo project?
John Moen [JM]: Hello. Thanks for taking the time- thanks also for listening! I have been dabbling with song writing for a very long time. This is the second Perhapst record, and I fronted a band called the Maroons prior to that. I was also in a band called the Dharma Bums that shared songwriting between all four members. There isn’t much chance to write for the Decemberists, so I continue to work on my own material when I get the time. I love Colin from the Decemberist’s writing, and it has been awesome to be a part of that band; to be inspired by the way he makes and sees music. I also played drums for Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks for several years, and took away a much different, but still inspiring way of looking at music from participating in that band. So, I’ve attempted to channel all these various inspirations without sounding too much like any one of them… I hope I have been successful in this.
AS: Did you grow up in Portland or move there for the music scene? How has the Portland music scene affected your development as a musician and your musical career?
JM: I was raised in Salem Oregon, less than an hour south of Portland. I moved to Portland after graduating high school in 1986. I was in a band then, and we wanted to move to where the action was… Needless to say, there is quite a bit more action here now! Staying in Portland has allowed me to meet many amazing musicians. I have definitely benefitted from this town being a draw to interesting people.
AS: How have you changed as a musician over the years?
JM: It is my hope that I’ve become a better listener over the years. I consider it to be a great quality in a musician… I’m sure there is still room for improvement.
AS: What was the first instrument you learned how to play? Are you a trained or self-taught musician?
JM: My first instrument was alto Sax in 5th grade. At the time, you could learn an instrument in public grade school! …no longer a given here in Portland. I had a few drum lessons when I was young, but am largely self-taught.
AS: Can you tell me about musical influences? Who are some artists/ bands you admire now?
JM: That’s a tough question. I find it hard to narrow it down to just a few. I loved heavy metal when I was younger, and am somehow still informed by that influence. Before that I was drawn to Bluegrass on my parents radio. Lately, I enjoy melodic psychedelic music and still have a big thing for Zydeco.
AS: Why the name Perhapst?
JM: It came to me while I was playing darts and drinking beer… It’s really hard to find a good band name.
AS: Can you tell me what inspired the following songs or something about writing/ recording them:
“Willamette Valley Ballad”
http://www.inmusicwetrust.com/pr/freemp3s/perhapst_willamettevalleyballad.mp3
JM: This song is a reflection on where I grew up. It’s a beautiful area. I attempt to commune with nature in this song. I am not sure that nature is reciprocating my desires. It’s all pretty perverted.
“Revise Your Maps”
JM: Another song about stage fright, basically.
“Find Me”
JM: This song is really personal- I can’t divulge too much on this one. Nate from the Decemberists plays a lovely bowed bass line on the recording, and I finally found a place for the recorder my Dad has always had lying around; it’s the flute-like sound in the middle section.
“Thousand Words”
JM: Somebody musing about their lover while looking through a photo album. Sounds perverted, but isn’t. Ha!
AS: What makes a good song?
JM: I like a strong melodic line, and good (If great is not available!) words. I would bet that a large percentage of songwriters are trying to include both of these elements… Unfortunately, one mans “hook” is another man’s forgettable assemblage of chords, so defining “good” becomes the trick. Luckily, there are many listeners, so pleasing everyone is thankfully not necessary.
Perhapst, Revise Your Maps release date: June 25, 2013
label: Jealous Butcher Records
purchase at Amazon: Revise Your Maps [Explicit]
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Straight Flush: book review
Posted by Amy Steele in Books on June 21, 2013
Straight Flush by Ben Mezrich. Publisher: William Morrow (2013). Nonfiction. 288 pages. ISBN: 9780062240095.
Another creative nonfiction book from Ben Mezrich [The Accidental Billionaires, Bringing Down the House] illustrating the new money, lavish lifestyle for a group of fraternity brothers from University of Montana. The guys develop the online poker site Absolute Poker while living as expats in Costa Rica. If everything these guys were doing was legal why re-locate to Costa Rica? Mezrich writes: “Costa Rica seemed the natural first choice. Paradise Poker was located there—and in addition, the country seemed to be ground zero for the online sports book business. Which meant there would be lots of experienced people who knew the tech and the industry. As with many Central and South American countries, Costa Rica could also provide cheap labor—but in Costa Rica, that labor would be well educated.”
The business remains shady throughout the book. Within years the company starts netting six figures per day. The guys travel the world, party, hook up with hot “girls” [Mezrich never describes talented, intelligent women in his books. He even writes: “there was hardly a week when there wasn’t some gorgeous thing in his bed.”], buy sports cars, motorcycles and drugs. On April 15, 2011 the US Department of Justice raids Absolute Poker along with two other major online poker sites. Congress passed new legislation designed to take these operations down. Nothing would be the same again.
“Nearly every state in the United States ran lotteries, which were clearly gambling, and nobody had a problem with that. Many states allowed horse racing, which was clearly gambling, and nobody had a problem with that. Vegas was built on casinos—hell, they’d rallied around the UIGEA, because it protected their established gambling interests and cut down their competition—and nobody had a problem with that. Poker itself was legal in most states, and nobody had a problem with that.”
This is the fifth book I’ve read—my favorite is Rigged—about a guy who made a ton of money in oil futures. What fascinates me more tends to be the idiotic spending and partying. Mezrich rarely chooses to write about do-gooders like Bill Gates— millionaires who want to eradicate polio or actually help society. Instead he thrives on the playboy stylings in his books [for this one he did travel to Antigua to interview an Absolute Poker’s founder]. He sexes the stories up as much as possible. Why do I keep reading these sexist tales of hedonism and treachery? Not sure. Mezrich can spin unequivocally entertaining based-in-reality tales and clearly has a type and a formula for his success. I occasionally want a page-turner. It’s a solid choice for summer reading.
RATING: ***/5
–review by Amy Steele
FTC Disclosure: I received this book for review from Harper Collins.
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Choice Quote: Tina Fey
Posted by Amy Steele in Film, Interview, TV, Women/ feminism on June 20, 2013
“I know older men in comedy who can barely feed and clean themselves, and they still work. The women, though, they’re all ‘crazy.’ I have a suspicion — and hear me out, because this is a rough one — that the definition of “crazy” in show business is a woman who keeps talking even after no one wants to fuck her anymore.”
[from The New Yorker]
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The Engagements: book review
Posted by Amy Steele in Books on June 16, 2013
The Engagements by J.Courtney Sullivan. Publisher: Knopf (June 2013). Fiction. Hardcover. 400 pages. ISBN13: 9780307958716.
In the mid-40s a young female copywriter created that now well-worn saying “A Diamond is Forever” for a De Beers advertising campaign. Frances Gerety worked in the copy department of N.W. Ayer and Son among mostly men, never married and for the most part enjoyed her independent lifestyle. At the time, women in advertising worked on “women’s products” and provided the “women’s perspective” to particular clients [think about when Peggy on Mad Men gets called on for her opinions on lipstick or home cleaning products instead of airlines and cars]. Author Courtney Sullivan writes: “Others treated her like an exotic pet—a woman of forty, who worked alongside their husbands, with no apparent interest in a husband or children of her own.” I’d like to read an entire book about Frances Gerety.
Sullivan weaves Gerety’s story among those of four couples to illustrate love, marriage, commitment. Engagements, marriage, big wedding extravaganzas don’t interest me. I abhor diamond rings and would never wear one. Think about the suffering and wars fought in order for women to wear something that symbolizes their desirability. Wedding and engagement rings symbolize societal expectations, status and possession. People marry for varied reasons: love (of course); companionship; financial security; fear to be alone; to have a family and check off the societal expectations to-do list. The novel’s strength lies in its feminist meditation on relationships.
Wealthy, near-retirement Evelyn and Gerald met during college in the late 1920s–he a Harvard student from a wealthy family, she a Wellesley scholarship student. Gerald’s best friend, also Evelyn’s first husband, who died in WWII connects them. Financially struggling Sheila and James married when Sheila became pregnant. Sullivan writes: “Her friends, who she had felt so superior to back then, had seen their average-looking husbands grown into men with money and power, the sort of guys who took them to the Bahamas for an anniversary, or out to dinner in town every Friday night. And what did Sheila have? The formerly handsome teenager who failed to live up to his potential.”
Parisian Delphine married her friend and much-older business partner Henri, settling into a comfortable, passionless marriage that pushes her toward an affair. Describing Delphine, Sullivan writes: “It was absurd that she had not had a boyfriend to speak of since university, and that boyfriend was now married with two children, and living in a vineyard in Bordeaux, while she still managed to get her heart broken every year or so; she was a hopeless romantic with a taste for unkind men. It was absurd that she was thirty-three and yet still unsure about what to do with her life.”
Kate and her husband live together with their daughter and no intention to marry. Of Kate, Sullivan writes: “She hated the way a bride would raise up her bouquet in victory after saying “I do,” as if she had just accomplished something. She hated that even normal-sized women dieted for their weddings so they looked like bobble-head versions of themselves. She hated all the money thrown into some dark hole, when it could have been put to good use in a million other ways.”
The novel zigzags back and forth through various time frames as well as from couple to couple. The time shifts could be smoother. I found myself looking back to the beginning of chapters to recall which decade I was in when it should be obvious. When a few characters finally interact it’s rather choppy. It gets a tad confusing with so many characters but there’s a character for every reader. For me, I appreciated Kate as well as Delphine.
Sullivan excels at creating vivid characters and situations which engulf readers from page to page. Her writing reflects hot button topics– gay marriage, feminism, blood diamonds, cohabitation, affairs– in a smart manner without alienating anyone. It’s a well-written, thoughtful and engaging read.
RATING: ****/5
ps. Reese Witherspoon purchased the book rights so read this before it becomes a film!
–review by Amy Steele
FTC Disclosure: I received this book for review from Random House.
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Entertainment news
Posted by Amy Steele in Film, Music, TV on June 16, 2013
Music:
Beady Eye and former Oasis singer Liam Gallagher reports that like his brother Noel, he has tinnitus. Seems to be no big deal for him as he tells the Sun:
“Without a doubt I have tinnitus. You’re not a proper rock’n’roll star if you don’t.”
TV:
IFC renewed Portlandia for two more seasons.
Film:
Sam Riley [Control, On the Road] is the latest addition to the Weinstein Company’s adaptation of Irene Nemirovsky’s book, “Suite Francaise.” Set in WWII, the project recently acquired leading lady Michelle Williams, on top of a cast that already includes Kristin Scott Thomas as Williams’ mother.
the story: a French woman (Williams) falls in love with a German officer (played by Matthias Schoenaerts). Production is set to start later this summer for a release next year.
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Stephen Fry on depression and suicide
Posted by Amy Steele in Uncategorized on June 10, 2013
Stephen Fry has bipolar disorder. He recently admitted that he attempted suicide last year. His first suicide attempt was at age 17.
Speaking to comedian Richard Herring, Stephen said:
“I am the victim of my own moods, more than most people are perhaps, in as much as I have a condition which requires me to take medication so that I don’t get either too hyper or too depressed to the point of suicide. I would go as far as to tell you that I attempted it last year, so I’m not always happy – this is the first time I’ve said this in public, but I might as well. I’m president of Mind, and the whole point in my role, as I see it, is not to be shy and to be forthcoming about the morbidity and genuine nature of the likelihood of death amongst people with certain mood disorders.”
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Maya’s Notebook: book review
Posted by Amy Steele in Books on June 9, 2013
Maya’s Notebook by Isabel Allende. Publisher: Harper (2013). Fiction. Hardcover. 400 pages. ISBN 9780062105622.
Isabel Allende novels engulf you with impressive stories rooted in Chilean customs. With its present day setting, her latest novel could be considered a departure. The novel commences with 19-year-old Maya sent into exile by her grandmother to Chiloe, an island off Chile’s southern coast . Her grandmother and step-grandfather raised her in the liberal enclave of Berkeley, California. Her Scandinavian mom took off early in her life and her Chilean father, a pilot, wasn’t around much. Maya falls into a terrible drug-fueled scene when her grandfather, an African-American astronomer, dies. Allende writes about drug use and abject despair as magnificently as she writes about Chilean landscapes.
“Exasperated, insane, I waited eternal seconds until the rocks burned to the color of wax, with the tube burning my fingers and my lips, and finally they broke and I deeply breathed in the redeeming cloud, the sweet fragrance of mentholated gasoline, and then the unease and premonitions disappeared and I rose to glory, light, graceful, a bird in the wind. For a brief time I felt euphoric, invincible, but soon I came down with a band in the semidarkness of that room.”
After escaping from the rehab facility, she finds herself deeply involved in a dangerous drug scene in Las Vegas. Once her grandmother rescues her and sends her away, Maya has ample time to discover her innermost strength while in the isolated community. Given a notebook by her grandmother on her departure, Maya contemplates the harrowing past few months and her journey to bring her shattered soul back together. Maya’s Notebook is yet another beguiling, contemplative novel from one of my favorite authors.
–review by Amy Steele
FTC Disclosure: I received this book for review from Harper Collins.
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STEELE INTERVIEWS: Erika Robuck
Posted by Amy Steele in Books, Interview on June 7, 2013
The engaging new novel from author Erika Robuck, CALL ME ZELDA, illuminates the fascinating and complicated Zelda Fitzgerald. Married to F. Scott Fitzgerald and a party girl in the 1920s, Zelda fought mental illness and thwarted creative endevours. See my review. Currently on a book tour, Erika took the time to answer a few questions.
Photo by Catherine Pelura of KC Photography
Amy Steele: Why did you decide to write about Zelda Fitzgerald?
Erika Robuck: My research on Ernest Hemingway for my last novel, HEMINGWAY’S GIRL, led me to Zelda. His dislike of her intrigued me, so I wanted to find out about her for myself.
Amy Steele: What interests you about the women involved with well-known writers?
Erika Robuck: I’m curious about spouses who support and endure their artistic partners. It takes a special person to marry a creative man or woman, and the experiences in the relationship often shape or inform the work. It is what comes from that intimacy that fascinates me.
Amy Steele: Do you think Zelda truly had an untreated or misdiagnosed mental illness or do you think the relationship with F. Scott Fitzgerald pushed her to a breakdown?
Erika Robuck: I think it was a combination of factors. Scott’s alcoholism and Zelda’s place in history as a woman had something to do with her troubles, but from hearing voices, to vision issues, to suicide attempts, to family members’ suicides, there is compelling evidence that she did have mental illness. Contemporary psychiatrists say she may have been bipolar or manic depressive.
Amy Steele: Sometimes it seems in the novel that you place blame on Scott and not a chemical imbalance. What type of research about her condition did you find or complete?
Erika Robuck: I hoped to show that he aggravated her symptoms, but I do not wish to imply that he is the cause of her illness. The two of them were toxic for each other, but still had enormous love and loyalty for the other.
What most informed my portrayal of Zelda were the Fitzgerald papers at Princeton University: Zelda’s medical records, journals, letters, and various other documents were essential to my understanding of the Fitzgeralds at that time and place.
Amy Steele: How did Scott hinder Zelda’s treatment?
Erika Robuck: This is a hard question. He worked himself to death to keep her well cared for in reputable psychiatric clinics, and clearly loved her. That said, physicians’ requests to him to curb his drinking were resented or unheeded, he thwarted her attempts at creative expression at times, and could be abusive. It seemed to be a classic co-dependent relationship.
Amy Steele: How did Zelda and Scott go from being such a celebrated and popular couple to becoming so unhinged and insolvent?
Erika Robuck: Like any celebrity couple who indulges in excess, the party has to end at some point. Zelda’s mental collapse corresponded with the economic crash and depression. Scott’s stories about the problems of the rich went out of fashion as families struggled to feed their children. Scott’s alcoholism and Zelda’s increasingly troubling mental episodes hindered their ability to recover.
Amy Steele: Why did you want the narrator of CALL ME ZELDA to be a psychiatric nurse?
Erika Robuck: I needed a character who would be intimately connected to the Fitzgeralds, and I kept noticing the reference to nurses as companions and escorts. Zelda didn’t have many close female friends but formed strong attachments to some of her nurses, so it seemed like the most natural choice for a narrator.
Amy Steele: How did Anna’s tragic life help you tell Zelda’s story?
Erika Robuck: I needed a nurse who would bond with Zelda more than her other patients, so there had to be a deeper connection. That connection came through loss of a husband and daughter—one from mental illness, the other from the war. I wanted my character, however, to bring redemption to the story. Scott and Zelda’s story is so tragic, I needed balance.
Amy Steele: What do you like about writing historical fiction?
Erika Robuck: Reading and writing historical fiction is my passion. The greatest challenge is remaining faithful to historic timelines while weaving in the stories of my fictional characters. I love experiencing history through the emotions of compelling characters. It’s what I hope to bring to readers.
BOOK TOUR:
Sunday, June 9, 3pm, Concord Bookshop, Concord, MA
Monday, June 10, 7 pm, River Run Bookstore, NH
Thursday, June 13, 7 pm, Common Good Books, MN
Saturday, September 7, 11-2:30 pm, Author Reception hosted by the Metastatic Breast Cancer Assoc.
Thursday, September 26, 7 pm, Broadneck Library, MD
Tuesday, October 8, 10 am, Linthicum Women’s Association, MD
Tuesday, October 15, 10 am, Crofton Library Book Club, MD
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Choice Quotes: Before Sunrise/ Before Sunset
Posted by Amy Steele in DVD, Film on June 6, 2013
in anticipation of Before Midnight, the third film from director Richard Linklater and Julie Delpy (Celine) and Ethan Hawke (Jesse), I re-watched Before Sunrise and Before Sunset.
I kinda see love as this escape for two people who don’t want to be alone.
–Jesse
Isn’t everything we do in life a way to be loved a little more.
–Celine
Why do you think people think relationships are supposed to last forever?
–Jesse
We have these innate set points and nothing much changes our disposition.
–Jesse
To truly communicate with people is really hard to do.
–Celine
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About Me
covering mostly music and books. focus on alternative/indie and women in music, literature and the arts. feminist. vegan. mostly alternative, a bit bohemian. Masters in journalism from Boston University. BA from Simmons College.
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