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June 30
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Rob
gave
to:
Vineland (Paperback)
by Thomas Pynchon
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Rob said:
"Pynchon’s Firesign Theatre affinities run crazy deep: obsession with conspiracies, electronics, old-time radio, detective serials, drug connections, comic books, astrology, James Joyce, Groucho Marx, and how the USA secretly lost WW2. They were bo...more
Pynchon’s Firesign Theatre affinities run crazy deep: obsession with conspiracies, electronics, old-time radio, detective serials, drug connections, comic books, astrology, James Joyce, Groucho Marx, and how the USA secretly lost WW2. They were both also working in LA in the late 60s/early 70s, which makes me wonder if he listened to their KPFK show. They’re like double integrals. Anyway, if “V” is “Two Places At Once” and “Lot 49” is “Nick Danger” and “Gravity’s Rainbow” is “Don’t Crush That Dwarf,” “Vineland” is “Everything You Know Is Wrong.” The weirdest thing about “Vineland” is that it’s designed to move fast, be read fast, be enjoyed fast; it’s practically stand-up comedy, “seized as well by this geist that could’ve been polter along with zeit.” Link to Greil Marcus on Firesign, which could double as Marcus on Pynchon: http://www.firezine.net/faq/fs.......less
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Rob
gave
to:
Easter Rising: An Irish American Coming Up from Under (Hardcover)
by Michael Patrick MacDonald (Goodreads author!)
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Rob said:
"I loved "All Souls" 8 years ago, but didn't know this sequel existed until last week, when I stole it from my sister. Mission of Burma, Slits, Clash, SS Decontrol, Chic, PiL, La Peste, Unnatural Axe, and the most poignant sentences I’ve ...more
I loved "All Souls" 8 years ago, but didn't know this sequel existed until last week, when I stole it from my sister. Mission of Burma, Slits, Clash, SS Decontrol, Chic, PiL, La Peste, Unnatural Axe, and the most poignant sentences I’ve read about “Boogie Wonderland” or “Armagideon Time.” Also, turns out our grandfathers were security guards at the same museum. Too bad about the subtitle; should’ve been called “That’s How I Escaped My Certain Fate.”...less
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June 12
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Rob
gave
to:
Gravity's Rainbow (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
by Thomas Pynchon
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Rob said:
"What did Pynchon hear, and when did he hear it? Lots of *Blonde on Blonde* and *Let It Bleed* here, but the final 50 pages are all *After the Gold Rush*, flying Mother Nature’s silver seed to a new home. Wonder if he was into Bowie early on, Fires...more
What did Pynchon hear, and when did he hear it? Lots of *Blonde on Blonde* and *Let It Bleed* here, but the final 50 pages are all *After the Gold Rush*, flying Mother Nature’s silver seed to a new home. Wonder if he was into Bowie early on, Firesign Theatre, Quicksilver too... Ain't it just like the night to play tricks when you're trying to be so quiet?...less
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Rob
gave
to:
Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood (Paperback)
by Suzanne Finstad
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Rob said:
"Why does Natalie Wood’s gaudy life inspire mediocre bios? Because they never mention the “I’m pretty, mama! I’m a pretty girl!” scene in “Gypsy,” maybe the most brutal scene in any Hollywood movie? Because she spent her whole life in LA...more
Why does Natalie Wood’s gaudy life inspire mediocre bios? Because they never mention the “I’m pretty, mama! I’m a pretty girl!” scene in “Gypsy,” maybe the most brutal scene in any Hollywood movie? Because she spent her whole life in LA? Because nobody parts with a story they don’t own a piece of? Because she didn’t make more enemies? Because writers can’t resist schlocking up her stage mom or her horrible death? But “Mr. S,” the book by Sinatra’s valet, has two pages on N.W. (70-71) that are easily the best thing written about her, which made me hungry to try this one. It’s sleazoid where Gavin Lambert’s is saintly, yet neither really gets her opaque charisma. Also, neither explains why Natasha Gregson Wagner stopped being famous. What happened with that?...less
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Rob
gave
to:
Mr. S: My Life with Frank Sinatra (Hardcover)
by George Jacobs
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Rob said:
"“For all her many charms, I have to say that Natalie Wood was the least convincing black girl I ever met. We’d joke about it, calling her the ‘Black Russian.’” Best Sinatra book ever.
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February 17
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Rob
gave
to:
The Complete Plays: The Ruffian on the Stair, Entertaining Mr. Sloan, the Good and Faithful Servant, Loot, the Erpingham Camp, Funeral Games, What the Butler Saw (Paperback)
by Joe Orton
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Rob said:
"“That's typical of your upbringing, baby. Every luxury was lavished on you--atheism, breast-feeding, circumcision. I had to make my own way.”
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February 12
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Rob
gave
to:
White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s (Paperback)
by Joe Boyd
bookshelves:
recently-read
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my rating:
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Rob said:
"Richard Thompson sure had some doofy hair once. I wish this book were twice as long, maybe with some Syd and Nico dirt, maybe with photos of Linda Peters attempting to bang Nick Drake. Remarkable for its non-hysterical tone, its clear eye, its lack...more
Richard Thompson sure had some doofy hair once. I wish this book were twice as long, maybe with some Syd and Nico dirt, maybe with photos of Linda Peters attempting to bang Nick Drake. Remarkable for its non-hysterical tone, its clear eye, its lack of score-settling, with the millionth retelling of the Newport-Dylan-electric scene possibly the first to mention details like the fact that Dylan already did an acoustic set the day before, or Mel Lyman following Dylan with a ten-minute harmonica solo. I also like his arguments on behalf of "Poor Boy." Boyd comes off as a question-answerer rather than a lemme-tell-you-one-more blowhard, which makes all the difference between a hangman's beautiful daughter and a hangman. ....less
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February 04
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Rob
gave
to:
Sherlock Holmes : The Complete Novels and Stories, Vol I (Paperback)
by Arthur Conan Doyle
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Rob said:
""The Adventure of the Copper Beeches" is mega kinky. Rereading these I learn Holmes = Oscar Wilde. No nuclear families, just a nighttown of widowers and fatherless daughters and cross-dressers and drugs and cab rides and brain-fever cases. ...more
"The Adventure of the Copper Beeches" is mega kinky. Rereading these I learn Holmes = Oscar Wilde. No nuclear families, just a nighttown of widowers and fatherless daughters and cross-dressers and drugs and cab rides and brain-fever cases. "It is not so impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have endeavoured in my case to do." ...less
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Rob
gave
to:
Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life (Hardcover)
by Steve Martin
bookshelves:
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my rating:
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Rob said:
"I was hoping for more on the making of "The Man With Two Brains."
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