This book is not only about men's attire, but also the Vienna mindset from the author and great visionary architect Adolf Loos. The structure of Austria's class system has a lot to do with how people dressed during the turn of the 19th into the 20th Century. What's charming (and this book is nothing but charming) is Loos' writing style which seems to be geared for the fashion magazine of its time. One thing that comes through is that Loos knows his landscape, and he knows how that landscape should look - so its natural for an architect to be also interested in clothing, because clothing is another form of architecture. So what's fascinating about this book is not the subject matter itself, but how such an interesting man, a great designer, looks at the world of fashion and fabric. And yes, a must for the dandy's book collection, without a doubt!
It has been a Usamaru Furuya month for me, since I read "Lychee Light Club early this month. And I liked it a lot - but this is really my cup of sake. "No Longer Human" is a classic and great Osamu Dazai novel, and Furuya does a good job in updating the story (slightly).
A story of a wealthy young teenager who had everything but quickly loses it due to feelings of severe alienation. Yes, it could be a Who rock opera concept, but in the hands of Dazai its a poetic downsizing of a character slowly losing his sense of identity. His only hope really is becoming a writer. And the book (and graphic novel) is based on Dazai's personal life. I discovered this writer while living in Japan, and at the time (and still does to be honest) makes perfect sense to me. Whenever I write something I think of Dazai first. And its interesting Furuya has taken on this novel as a graphic piece of narration. His work is super great and sophisticated. "No Longer Human" is a three part series. I can't wait till volume 2
Reading Greil Marcus is always a pleasure. And its the reason why I am reading this particular book, because I really don't have a passion for the Doors or their imagery. But on the other hand they are a band that's important to my personal culture. Being raised in Los Angeles, I saw the Doors at the Whiskey, opening for Them with Van (the other) Morrison. It may have been the first show in a club, not sure. My mind I was around 12, but I think i was actually 14. Nevertheless I went there with my Dad to see Them, and the Doors was a superb surprise. I think it may have been before their first album was released, but I remember being really impressed with Jim Morrison's voice. It sooth as well as rocked. And there was something quite personal in the way they communicated with their audience in the club. On the other hand, Them was very cold and cool. Not a bad thing mind you, but totally the opposite of the Doors.
The next I saw the Doors it was at an outside concert - and I thought they were boring. They didn't have that concentration or the force of their show at the Whiskey. And at this time it was around the height of "Light My Fire." But the magic was gone, at least to my young ears at the time.
The other times were non-musical - but I remember being invited (with my Dad) to the back stage of the first Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young show at the Greek theater, and as we were walking to the entrance of the backstage, Morrison was being escorted out by a security guard. Then all of sudden Stills shows up and tells the security guard to let Morrison stay. And that was my memory of the evening! The next time after that I saw him in Topanga Canyon, drinking beer in a brown bag behind a wheel of a parked Volkswagon bug. Of course all of above could have just been a dream, but....
But back to the book, Marcus uses the Doors' culture and music as a springboard on his thoughts on 1960's American culture. its basicially a long riff how culture and band connects and makes commentary on to each other. Marcus is writing this book as not only a fan (and he's a very critical fan) but also the state of the world via the eyes of Jim Morrison and Co.
A very beautifully layered novel that
one can almost taste the narrative. Considering it deals with
cannibalism among other things this may not be your type of flavor -
but it is an essential read by one of the great English language
writers alive. What strikes me about the novel for me personally is
the jaded aristocratic voice that runs through it. All of Dennis
Cooper's novels have a strong visual sense - and usually with the
minimal language. "The Marbled Swarm" is different because
the text is so dense and beautifully spread out - that its just a joy
to go over the sentences over and over again. It has its own music,
and the images that come from the "music" is both funny and
highly poetic.
A lot of people will probably react to
the violence and sex, but to me in the hands of M. Cooper its a
beautiful instrument that plays a haunting melody. In about six
months i am going to re-read this book - not only for the pleasure of
the text, but also to dig into the narrative that is as twisted as
the secret tunnels that are featured in this novel.
"eroguro-nansensu" or as they say in English "erotic grotesque nonesense" was a school of writing in 1920's Japan. Decadent, druggy, kinky, and...fun. The most famous writer in that movement without a leader was Edogawa Rampo (yes it is a play on the name Edgar Allen Poe) and Shiro Hamao. Hamao was a lawyer by trade from a very well connected family. He threw that life away to become a crime writer, and an early supporter of gay rights in Japan. Died young, yet a dandy, Hamao had it all. And we can be thankful for Hesperus publishing these two short novels "The Devil's Disciple" and "Did He Kill Him?" Both stories are pretty pulpy, but it drips with Asakusa 1920's life, and both have a gay sensual quality. Imagine Cocteau writing a gay noir detective story - and that is pretty much what is here. So yeah, not a masterpiece, but nevertheless a fascinating writer in a fascinating country in a very exciting series of moments. Both stories deal with seduction that leads to a crime - and no regrets! One can only hope shortly that there will be more Shiro Hamao stories in English.
The stars are lined up perfectly for musicians who write books. Some of my favorite books are by rock n' roll people i.e. Patti Smith's "Just kids," and Nick Cave's novels. And now we have a superb collection of short stories by guitarist/songwriter Ry Cooder that deals with Los Angeles from 1940 to the mid-50's and its brilliant. What you get is a series of snapshots of life in different neighborhoods of Los Angeles, and some of these places don't exist anymore - but yet they live via Cooder's writing. After reading this book I wanted to rush off and locate volumes on Los Angeles history and its tall tales.
All narratives are strong, and very Noir in its approach and the way it looks at urban life. Money is tight, the fear of communism is in the air, and more bad times are just around the corner - yet the eccentricity of the characters are incredibly endearing - even though they're very low-level criminal types or even murderers. Nevertheless "Los Angeles Stories" is a classic of urban history research and fiction. After each story and while reading them, I was consistently googling to see if they actually exist or not. Some do and some don't and that's all part of the fun. Essential!
I think "Retromania" is the best music book of the 21st Century so far. But of course I am not including the great rock n' roll memoirs, but just talking about "music books" as a cultural thing. And this is a very important book to me, with respect to how music fans react to pop in general. If you are like me, a long term fan of pop music and its trends, and you are middle-aged, one thing comes to mind. There is nothing new happening in contemporary music. In fact its a shocking fact. If i get a buzz on something that's out there, more likely it came from the distant past - the 60's or 50's even.
Simon Reynolds doesn't have an answer for all of this, but he is the first writer of my generation to comment on how pop is just plain old. And old is not really bad, but...its still old! Reynolds even goes beyond music and into fashion as well. His knowledge of pop culture is right on the dot, with respect to him focusing on various trends and readings on contemporary culture. I also find his writings on the download culture fascinating. And if you are a music fan, one can imagine that one is busy downloading as fast as they can, but more likely not hearing everything. So therefore we're hording music instead of enjoying and thinking about music. And is this a good thing? Most say no, but habits are hard to break.
What i do know is that the shock of the new probably won't happen to me in my life time. I remember certain records giving me that 'wow. The Yardbirds double A single of "I'm a Man' and "Still I'm Sad." The first Roxy Music album. And the Kinks "Village Green Preservation Society." The first listening of those records put me into the 'now.' And that is what's missing in my listening life right now - the 'now' factor.
Superb. Jacques Tardi adopted "The Prone Gunman" by Jean-Patrick Manchette and its splendid. Without a doubt Manchette is my discovery of a new(ish) noir writer - and his stuff is pretty bleak, in a very French style of course. Nevertheless the narrative is about a trained assassin who wants to quit his work, but alas can't. He has a thing for Maria Callas and a tender heart - that is hidden from everyone, including himself. But make no mistake he's a murderer. Tardi's illustrations are pretty perfect, and visually he tales the tale. This is the second release in English of this dynamic dual. One hopes that there are other titles lurking ahead or in one's drawer someplace in the latin Quarter.
A wonderful fine for me. And to think of it, I only picked this book up because it had Paris in its title, and its published by New Directions. Such a beautiful start, and the end is just as wonderful. Enrique Vila-Matas' novel "Never Any End to Paris" is for me a mediative and hysterical look at a writer and the writing Parisian writing world, that exists in real life, but also in one's imagination.
It reads like a memoir, and for all I know it is a memoir, but alas, one can see this as almost an early Jean-Luc Godard film. Zillion of quotes, and literary & film references a go-go. And that is part of he fun of this novel.
The main character is an obsessed Hemingway fan who may or may not be a talented writer. And that in the end is not that important, what's the deal is the life one imagines. Everyone from Boris Vian to Guy Debord come through these pages, and one can write an endless amount of footnotes if that was the need. But alas, its a trip to a romantic notion of a writer drifting through Paris 20th century literary life. It was sad to see this novel ending...
The cover of "People' drove me to this book. At first it looks like a great kids book - and technically it is, but alas, there is something being said here that is not obvious. Typically Blexbolex draws an image of a music "conductor" but then on the opposite page, with the same held baton he draws a "tyrant." So one" starts to make comparisons between the two pages. Another example is an illustration "party goers" and the opposite page is "hermit." And so forth. There is something very Jacques Tati about it all. It maybe due to the retro look of the book, but also the commentary on the images where one thinks there would be no commentary. "People" serves many purposes. It can be an excellent book for a second language reader, or for those who need graphic design ideas, or..... there is the textural meaning what it means to be labeled and filed in a specific manner and form. Blexbolex is working on many levels here and this is an excellent book.
