I think the greatest merit of Trilby is in its obviously deeply-felt evocation of the Bohemian, artistic side of Paris in the middle of the 19th century. I have come across some indication [6] that what Du M wrote may not have been literally true in its details … but it is hard to believe that the spirit of Du M’s writing is not somehow true.
A review of Take a Breath & Hold It by Michael de Valle
Take a Breath & Hold It is a book which doesn’t flinch from life’s blackest, most feared experiences. It faces them head-on, and there are no euphemisms. Death, insanity, jealousy and fear are ever present, in every story, as in every life, and they feel as bad as always. But along with all of that, and even at its lowest ebb, there is still beauty everywhere in this collection.
A review of Landing by Emma Donoghue
The description of modern Dublin is good and it is a pleasure to read an author who is not afraid to take us to Stonybatter or Trinity as naturally as an American novelist would take us to Halstead Street or the Bronx. The reticence of some Irish writers about specific locations can be exasperating.
Interview with Jackie French
In this fascinating and extensive interview, the author of Pharaoh (to mention just one of Jackie French’s extensive titles), talks about the writing and researching of Pharaoh, the critical importance of history and books to children, the thread that connects all her work, her unlikely hero, on maintaining passion in life, a big preview of her next book, and lots more.
A review of Pharaoh by Jackie French
This is an exciting, easy to read, and edifying book which is suitable for all ages. The combination of an excellent, stirring plot, sympathetic and well developed characters, a hint of romance, and a positive, well researched historical context for a critical and surprisingly relevant period in humanity’s makes this a winner.
New Orleans Love: Harry Connick Jr.’s Chanson du Vieux Carré
The Connick song “Ash Wednesday” has more of a sense of adventure than one imagines a religious observance to have, but that may be the atmosphere of the city, and the nature of the album Chanson du Vieux Carré, on which Connick plays piano throughout, an album that has charm and solidity and more of a cinematic quality than most of the other jazz recordings I have listened to in the last year.
How Can A Poor Girl Make It?: Koko Taylor, Old School
Koko Taylor is the Queen of Chicago blues; and as there are apparently no worthier aspirants to the throne, though she is not as famous as Bessie Smith was or as B.B. King is, Taylor is the de facto Queen of all the blues. Koko Taylor’s career spans a half-century.
Elegant Sensuality, Inventive Musicality: Patti Austin, Avant Gershwin
The Avant Gershwin collection’s “Porgy and Bess Medley” is another tour de force. Between a mother’s humbling instructions and a lover’s deceptive attention, a “woman is a sometime thing.” (How Austin manages singing that and not sounding misogynist or self-incriminating is fascinating.)
Friendly Collaborators, Gorgeous Music: Randy Crawford and Joe Sample, Feeling Good
Joe Sample is right: Randy Crawford has immense control of her voice. I hardly can imagine a singer able to produce a more pure vocal line. “All Night Long,” written by Curtis Lewis, and sung by Aretha Franklin in her early days, is about a man who haunts a woman’s dreams, though she does not know him well: on Feeling Good, it is bluesy, passionate.
A Generation’s Work Continues: Neil Young’s Living With War
The false intelligence, the expectation of military success, and the early sense of triumph and victory have given way to death, the bodies returning home with little ceremony, to increasing losses on both sides, to grief and bad memories, all recounted in Young’s “Shock and Awe,” with its propulsive, shimmery percussion, jangling guitar notes, and grief-filled horn, a song in which Young recalls, “We had a chance to change our mind, but somehow wisdom was hard to find.