Tosh Berman's Blog, page 116
October 18, 2020
TAR BEACH: Life on the Rooftops of Little Italy by Susan Meiselas with Virginia Bynum & Angel Marinaccio (Damiani)
ISBN: 9788862087223
Tar Beach is a poetic term for rooftops of apartments, especially in this book of found or family photographs in the Manhattan area known as Little Italy. Susan Meiselas, with the assistance of Virginia Bynum and Angel Marinaccio, articulate the joys of their neighborhood and the ability to have access to the roofs of their living area. Here, they can pose for family portraits, sun themselves during the summer, even having a hose placed so one can cool off with a stream of water.
Little Italy is now called Nolita. The neighborhood between Canal Street and E. Houston Street, as well as Lafayette Street and The Bowery. Martin Scorsese was raised in this neighborhood and wrote a very brief but moving portrait of the importance of The Tar Beach in this part of the world. Scorsese comments on the song by Carole King and Gerry Goffin "Up On the Roof" (1962) about the importance of a space that is much needed from the cramped and small apartments below the roof.
The book is about the quiet moments of experience where family and neighbors gather and a location of solitude to be away from family. The beauty of such existence is often imagined or portrayed in films and literature. This book gives proof of such an enlightened presence. "Tar Beach" is a bittersweet (like all memories) of life in Little Italy, with commentary on photographs and the world at the time. It is a book of somewhat great importance for those who live or lived in Little Italy and a reminder that a city's history must never be forgotten. -Tosh Berman
October 15, 2020
Book Musik - "Sweet Dreams: From Club Culture to Style Culture, the Story of the New Romantics" by Dylan Jones (Faber & Faber)
Book Musik 032 – Sweet Dreams: From Club Culture to Style Culture, the Story of the New Romantics by Dylan JonesPosted on October 15, 2020 by Book Musik
Tosh and Kimley discuss Sweet Dreams: From Club Culture to Style Culture, the Story of the New Romantics by Dylan Jones. The 80s are back! Whether or not this makes you cringe, it was nevertheless an interesting era of Thatcherism, gender fluidity, rampant consumerism, and a hugely creative group of young people looking to conquer the world. This book goes well beyond the superficial veneer of the big hair, the big shoulder pads, and the hyper-stylized MTV videos. Jones gives us a seriously in-depth look at the nucleus of the scene in England as well as contextualizing it in the broader social and political sphere, not just in England but throughout the world. No haircut is left unexamined!
Theme music: “Behind Our Efforts, Let There Be Found Our Efforts” by LG17
October 10, 2020
Tosh Talks Frank O'Hara May.27, 2011
Tosh Berman talks about,
" FRANK O'HARA" POEMS FROM THE TIBOR DE NAGY EDITIONS, 1952-1966.
October 2, 2020
BOOK MUSIK 031 - Suicide's "Suicide (33 1/3) by Andi Coulter
Book Musik 031 – Suicide’s Suicide (33 1/3) by Andi CoulterPosted on October 1, 2020 by Book Musik
Tosh and Kimley discuss Suicide’s Suicide by Andi Coulter from the 33 1/3 series. Suicide was a band comprised of Alan Vega on vocals and Martin Rev as the sole multi-instrumentalist. Spawned from the wreckage of 1970s New York, the band never seemed to find a wide audience but those in the know who were lucky enough to have seen them live were the participants in a show that surely would not be forgotten. Typically described as an assault to the senses with a strong vibe of imminent violence, most people didn’t quite know what to make of them. But as so often happens with cult artists, their influence casts a wide net and continues to do so to this day.
Theme music: “Behind Our Efforts, Let There Be Found Our Efforts” by LG17
September 23, 2020
Juliette Gréco R.I.P.
Juliette Gréco, an icon from the beginning to the end. St Germain des Prés beauty and a great song artist. A dramatic life with intense romances (Miles Davis) and a close friend and perhaps even muse to Boris Vian. I love her. -Tosh Berman.
September 15, 2020
BOOK MUSIK: "Wagnerism" by Alex Ross
Book Musik 030 – Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music by Alex RossPosted on September 15, 2020 by Book Musik
Tosh and Kimley discuss Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music by Alex Ross. A famous quip goes “Wagner’s music is better than it sounds.” Whether you find Wagner’s music to be sublime or bombastic, this is an essential read. It is not a biography or an examination of his music but, more interestingly, it’s a very deep dive into the enormous cultural and political influence Richard Wagner has had on his contemporaries and everyone since, from writers to painters, dancers, philosophers, politicians, and filmmakers. The diversity of those who’ve come under the spell of Wagnerism is beyond compare. And this is despite Wagner’s well-known antisemitism and association with Hitler and the Nazi regime. Cancel culture hasn’t quite figured out what to do with Wagner but Ross leaves no stone unturned in this enormous and hugely satisfying read.
Theme music: “Behind Our Efforts, Let There Be Found Our Efforts” by LG17
September 10, 2020
"Suppose A Sentence" by Brian Dillon (NYRB)
ISBN: 978-1-68137-524-3It is always a pleasure to dwell in the words and world of Brian Dillon. "Suppose a Sentence" is a collection of literary essays, where the foundation is the sentence. Twenty-eight essays plus introduction focus at first a specific sentence by an author but then using that as a projection into that writer's style, structure, and sensibility. In many ways, this collection is a very straight forward literary inquiry into the author's work. It's not really about the sentence itself, or structure of writing, but how the beauty and form of writing take place in a reader's or critic's mind. Most of the authors/writers are well known here: Roland Barthes, Anne Carson, Thomas De Quincey (an author that comes up a lot in this book), Charlotte Brontë, George Elliot, Beckett, Virginia Woolf, and others. Pretty much the Western Literature world, but with some new figures such as the Korean-American Theresa Hak Kyung Cha and Jazz critic Whitney Balliett. I don't know the names like those two, but I want to read their works due to Dillon's take on their work.
I love literature, and I too think of sentences that make me go-go almost the same manner as listening to exciting music. Dillon captures these moments in these brief but thoughtful series of essays.
September 5, 2020
September 4, 2020
WILLIAM N. COPLEY: SELECTED WRITINGS edited by Anhony Atlas (Walther König)
WILLIAM N. COPLEY: SELECTED WRITINGS edited by Anthony Atlas (Walther König) ISBN: 978-96098-776-5
I know the name of William N. Copley (1919-1996) as a gallerist in Los Angeles during the late 1940s who focused on Surrealist art. Copley Galleries were the first to focus on the paintings and sculptures of Man Ray and do the first Joseph Cornell exhibition in Los Angeles. Overall, as a business, the gallery was a failure. However, like a cat with nine-lives, Copley focused his life as a painter, but still drawn into the world of Surrealism. There is a cartoon quality to his visual work that reminds me of a colorful Krazy Kat comic strip but with a strong sense of eros. Philip Guston also comes to mind. "William N. Copley Selected Writings" is a collection of his texts. They are unique works, like his paintings, that fully express his 'fun' character.
The exceptional quality of Copley is his relationship with the old Surrealist guard. He was a younger man when he met Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, Cornell, and Max Ernst. So, one can feel the generational difference between him and the others. Still, Copley has a wicked sense of humor that must have been a delight to the European artists. His 'American' quality to accept failure and move on is an excellent trait by Copley. As an anthology of one person's writing is all over the map, but his devotion to the world of Ernst and others never tired him. Reading this book, you get some stories over again, but the context is the key here. In a manner, Copley is an outsider. Adopted to a wealthy and influential family, he is the black sheep in the family structure. Yet, his outside view of the world is a tool for him being involved in the arts—both as an admirer or collector and artist. Copley didn't use art jargon in his essays. He's very much a journalist reporting on the facts that are in front of him. His reading audience is people who are not necessarily into the visual or literary arts. He wrote for publications such as The San Diego's Evening Tribune, Herald News from Illinois, etc. All small-time and neighborhood newspapers. His first-person accounts with Man Ray, Duchamp, and Cornell make this book a worthy read. A generous slice of cultural history as it happened. -Tosh Berman.
September 1, 2020
BOOK MUSIK 029 -Judy Garland's Judy at Carnegie Hall (33 1/3) by Manuel Betancourt
Book Musik 029 – Judy Garland’s Judy at Carnegie Hall (33 1/3) by Manuel BetancourtPosted on September 1, 2020 by Book Musik
Tosh and Kimley discuss Judy Garland’s Judy at Carnegie Hall by Manuel Betancourt from the 33 1/3 series. This live double album was a milestone in pop-culture history. Recorded in 1961, the album is an homage to the American songbook, was on the Billboard charts for over 70 weeks, won four Grammy Awards and has never been out of print. It was a highwater mark both in terms of Garland’s career and as part of the cultural and sociological zeitgeist of the 60s. Garland looms large as an old-Hollywood film icon and as one of the most celebrated gay icons. Her life was full of tragedy and triumph and this album is undoubtedly at the pinnacle of her many triumphs.
Theme music: “Behind Our Efforts, Let There Be Found Our Efforts” by LG17
