The Accidental Footballer
This is a pretty decent, if slight, memoir.
Given Nevin’s personality it is not surprising that it’s most fun when he’s talking about life outside of football.
Category: Non-Fiction
culture?
Jews Don’t Count
I find myself disagreeing with some of Baddiel’s points but I cannot argue with the key central point that while racists and anti-semites still continue to attack Jews people cannot sit back with the comfortable notion that Jews are so normal in every day life that they don’t need to be protected from these attacks.
I do think he spends way too much time criticizing the Left on their handling of real or perceived anti-semitism without equally sticking the boot into the obvious villains on the right who made much political hay while continuing to be quietly racist and anti-semitic.
babelfish?
Don’t Panic
In this highly entertaining biography (a young) Neil Gaiman profiles the life of Douglas Adams with a particular emphasis on the many versions of The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy.
Features interviews with Adams himself and many of his collaborators over the years. Also includes unused snippets of TV and radio scripts, the original pitches for Hitch-Hiker’s and more.
Gently aping Adam’s style Gaiman manages to make all of this into a very enjoyable package.
I wouldn’t recommend buying it at anything more than cover price but it’s worth the read.
cursed?
Gentlemen
This entry in the 33⅓ series covers The Afghan Whigs estimable 1993 release Gentlemen.
After brief but well constructed introduction to the band members it seemed to me that it became rather by-the-numbers when talking about the recording of the record. The section talking about the individual songs held nothing new and was where the author’s personal opinions began to overwhelm the factual content.
As for the part of the book dealing with the book’s reception after release and it’s lack of sales is chock full of biases about the music industry (Gendron seems to really not get why a difficult to classify album about messed up sexual relationships might not have sold in the early 90s) and is less than even handed when talking about the fallout.
It was worth borrowing from the library. I’d be rather disappointed if I’d paid money for it.
heaven?
Fear of Music
The follow up to This is Uncool is Mulholland’s choice of the greatest albums since Disco and Punk (the original was just singles).
This book is very similar in style to This is Uncool. It’s tone is much angrier and (to me as someone who was on message boards during the poptimism/rockism thing) it’s a more political than personal in some choices this time around.
I’ve docked it point for the off tangent ranting in some entries and for the rather bleak view takes of even the best music in the final few choices.
It’s a cheap and interesting read for any pop music nerd in your life.
stan?
This Is Uncool
In this collection of reviews Mulholland picks the best singles from Punk to the Milennium.
Of course this is a highly subjective thing but writes persuadingly on the worth of Pop in general and specifically on critically derided musical genres like Disco.
I vehemently disagreed with some of his opinions (mainly about your more earnest 80’s rock acts) but learned enough to want to listen to a whole lot of music that I’d never even thought of checking out before.
It’s super cheap right now second hand but for the sake of your wrists don’t buy the hardback like I did!
If it matters I bought this because it came highly recommended by Kieron Gillen.
camp?
Scrappy Little Nobody
Kendrick’s short memoirs are entertaining but never particularly revealing (unless you’re surprised to learn that a twentysomething has taken some recreational drugs).
The best parts are about her early days as a child actor breaking into Broadway and the sacrifices her family made to get that to happen.
I would have been disappointed by this book if I had paid full price for it. At a discount it was worth it.
concrete?
Wishful Drinking
Only a few days ago I nearly bought a physical copy of this book in a bargain bookstore.
Since I’ve just a had a big clear out of books I didn’t want to start adding new books to my shelves.
Imagine my delight when I saw it pop up in the Kindle Daily Deals on Amazon. Especially because I had a credit that meant I could get the book for nothing!
Wishful Drinking is a book adaptation of Fisher’s successful one-man show of the same name.
It’s a mostly hilarious, occasionally moving piece of autobiography. The best parts are when she talks about her family and her battles with mental illness but it’s never less than entertaining.
Given it’s stage show origins it’s not surprising that it’s a little on the short side but it’s still very much worth reading – especially if you can pick it up at a bargain price.
bulk3-07
Hyperbole and a Half
bulk14
The Writer’s Tale: The Final Chapter
I do intend to actually write something about this one at some point…