Review

Book Review: “My Last Innocent Year” — Too Unreliable?

June 21, 2023
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An unreliable narrator is a tough row to hoe for a fiction writer, but a narrator who doesn’t quite know what to think — that’s even harder ground to plow.

Doc Talk: Lady Bird Johnson meets Joan Baez at the Nantucket Film Festival

June 21, 2023
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Two documentaries grapple with the ’60s, a decade of chaos, craziness, and the potential for doom or salvation.

Classical Concert Review: The Escher String Quartet at Rockport — Nonstop Delight

June 20, 2023
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I immediately heard how adept these players were — and how brilliantly they played together.

Jazz Album Review: “Drink Plenty Water” — Clifford Jordan’s Swinging Ode to Disruption

June 20, 2023
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I wonder why this fine session was withheld for 49 years. It might be the bitter-sounding texts, or the very fact of vocals in a jazz session.

Film Review: “Asteroid City” — Reality Is Beside the Point

June 19, 2023
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Asteroid City is hard to pin down, largely because it holds its ideas about nostalgia and grief at arm’s length.

Film Review: “Sloane: A Jazz Singer” — Making the Most of Your Gift

June 19, 2023
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Sloane: A Jazz Singer is very sweet film that never cloys because of the singer’s naturalness, honesty, occasional self-deprecation, and sense of humor.

Film Review: Two Music Docs That Go Deep — “City of a Million Dreams” and “Heaven Stood Still: The Incarnations of Willy DeVille”

June 18, 2023
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Both of these documentaries offer gratifying viewing for any curious roots music fan.

Book Review: “Happy Forever” — An Entertaining Oral History of the Turtles and the World of Pop Music

June 18, 2023
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This offbeat bio of Turtles vocalist, songwriter, and clown prince Mark Volman has been assembled from amusing, insightful, horrifying, honest, and candidly told stories from friends, family, and even some foes.

Film Review: “Blue Jean” — The Color of Truth

June 17, 2023
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This incisive drama set during the height of Thatcherism doesn’t need to amplify its relevance.

Book Review: “Chain-Gang All-Stars” — A Terrifying Future World

June 17, 2023
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In this novel Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah creates a terrifying future world. I’m glad that he chose to anchor that creation so powerfully in the shameful present.

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