Books

Book Review: “The Violet Hour” — Death Illuminated

August 2, 2016
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In her fabulous, intensely involving book, author Katie Roiphe crawls into the deathbeds of five writers who wrote brilliantly and prolifically.

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Fuse Book Review: Peter Kramer’s Fight for Optimism about Antidepressants

July 29, 2016
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In this book, Peter D. Kramer counters what he sees as an ill-informed and dangerous backlash against antidepressant medications.

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Book Review: “Serious Bidness” — Seriously Deranged

July 27, 2016
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Devotees of modern and contemporary art will find this an inscrutable yet irresistible 72-page book.

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Book Review: “How to Listen to Jazz” — A Helpful Earful

July 26, 2016
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Readers inspired to take a listening journey from Gioia’s historical perspective will benefit greatly from his delineation of jazz’s various forms.

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Book Review: “Every Song Ever” — Notes From an Enigmatic Ear

July 26, 2016
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Ben Ratliff’s volume about how to listen to music is full of fairly radical but largely undefended assertions.

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Book Review and Commentary: Testaments to the Wonderful Ears of Ralph J. Gleason

July 26, 2016
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A writer has to write for the now or to write for the ages. Gleason almost always chose the now, but his best moments go deeper.

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Book Review: John Vassos — Shaping the Look of Modern Technology

July 21, 2016
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John Vassos, Industrial Design for Modern Life is not only an essential book for designers, but for those who love the history of design.

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Fuse Book Review: Cynthia Ozick — The Value of “Exaggerated Contempt”

July 20, 2016
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For Cynthia Ozick, critics connect the dots; they inform us about what kind of culture we’re living in.

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Book Review: Franz Liszt — Piano Man

July 14, 2016
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Hilmes’ fascination with Liszt’s public notoriety stands front-and-center in this biographical effort.

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Book Review: “American Rhapsody” — A Lucid Song of Ourselves

June 28, 2016
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One of the ironies inf American Rhapsody is that most of the artists Pierpont takes up didn’t find life in America to be rhapsodic at all.

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