reading is fundamental, continued
so i am currently reading a number of books - i also recently completed two books while on vacation. those were both *easy* light reading, but were good nonetheless. first, i read 40 watts from nowhere which is the story of sue carpenter's pirate radio stations, KPBJ in San Francisco, and KBLT in LA. i was pleased to find 40 watts at t's house as i had left one of the in-progress books at home. my love of good radio has recently been renewed thanks to KEXP and WTJU and reading 40 watts really restored my energy to participate in community radio. carpenter started and ran both pirate radio stations from her home, allowing djs to broadcast for most, if not all, hours of the day. The story is fascinating, both for her personal experience and for the tremendous document of mid-90s indie music it provides. i highly reccomend it.i also found how soon is never by marc spitz at t's house. (funny to find books there as he claims not to read.) this was essentially a downer, although humorous and easy to read. this is the story of a man who was obsessed with the smiths while they were still a band and whose life was drastically (negatively) affected by their breakup. the book centers around the main character, having just turned 30, a rock journalist for headphones magazine (what a horrible title), striving to reunite the smiths under the pretense of writing a feature for the mag. all in all the story is one of the classic sad-sack smiths fan who never grows up, but entertaining nonetheless. i also picked up, as a thank you gift for t a book called meat is murder by joe pernice. yes, that joe pernice. this little book is a part of a brilliant series called "33 1/3" published under the continuum impint in which musicians, artists, writes and the like recount a fictional or factual story centered around a "critically acclaimed and much-loved album of the past 40 years." i began to read meat is murder but unfortunately didn't get to finish it. what i got through was great though; that joe pernice is a word master.
so now i am reading a bio of margaret bourke-white, who is one of my heroes. living in the early 20th century, she was entralled by industry and made a career and name for herself photographing the beauty and artistry of industry and industrial landscapes. i am also still reading the bio of frederick law olmsted, and hip: the history.
my love of reading (and radio) have been restored. hooray for me!
posted by bls @ 11:11 AM
1 Comments:
Re: the Smiths book I don't know how you feel about Liz Phair (in truth, I'm not terribly familiar) but The Last Rock Star Book is an amazing novel which is in part about a journalist who is recruited to do a quickie bio on Liz Phair and becomes convinced she is his long-lost sister. It's by Camden Joy. Joy's second novel is Boy Island, wherein CJ is supposedly the drummer in Cracker. Also highly recommended.
Post a Comment
<< Home