Books
There is no doubt that Marc Myers is doing noble work — if only Anatomy of a Song was more exciting to read.
Mark Greif’s analyses can be sharply counter-intuitive..
Bad Moon Rising turns out to be justified by new evidence, some of which will be surprising to all concerned.
The Murder of Sonny Liston is an absorbing, albeit speculative, attempt at addressing the mystery that died with the man.
“Surely the passion for the plain, the homespun, the banal is itself a form of betrayal, a refusal to look honestly at a complex universe.”
Cursed Legacy‘s chronicle of the life of Thomas Man’s son is an important addition to the cultural history of the twentieth century.
The Library of America volumes of Virgil Thomson’s writings will help reestablish him as one of the 20th century’s preeminent musical scribes.
Scholastique Mukasonga’s autobiography, Cockroaches, examines the three decades leading up to the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda.
The central mystery of the life of Brian Wilson: How did such a sweet and fragile soul create such complex and enduring music?
The Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll at Mid-Year: Warming Up a Riff — How It Happened, and Why It Matters