Onward and Upward

RECENTLY READ - Mansion on the Hill: Dylan, Young, Geffen, Springsteen, and the Head-on Collision of Rock and Commerce by Fred Goodman

Interesting read, really highlights what is lacking in today’s music industry - artist development. All the legendary A&R men understood that it took time for artists to come into their own. Nowadays, they don’t seem to have the money or patience to let that happen. Also learned: Never do business with David Geffen, you’re probably on the short end of the deal.

RECENTLY READ - Conversations with Tom Petty

After a two week reading break, I blazed through this. Very entertaining; the thing that struck me most was how happy Tom Petty is. No morose, brooding rock star about him. He loves his life and it shows in his music. Also, he might be one of the few people to go to L.A. and demand a record deal (and get one on his first day). Though the Heartbreakers weren’t mentioned in Gladwell’s latest, they definitely hit the 10,000 hours of practice mark before they hit it big.

RECENTLY READ - Father and Son by Larry Brown

Another great read from the Mississippi literary master. This one was more of a page turner, and reading it felt like speeding towards a car wreck that I knew was going to happen.

Recently Read - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

An entertaining read - not really that climactic of a conclusion. Much ado was made about Jonathan Safran Foer’s modernist touches - pictures, one word per page, spacing differences, but the book stayed strong in spite of that. I tend to like books written from the perspective of younger people - e.g. Vernon God Little, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, etc.

RECENTLY READ: Big Bad Love by Larry Brown

My friend Craig turned me on to Larry Brown, who quickly became one of the best Southern writers I have ever read. I blazed through this collection of short stories, each one showing people who live way off the beaten path. This reminds me of my childhood, though I didn’t know anyone as crazy as these folks. Brown pulls some hilarious and stark stories out of a few twisted characters.

Not recommended: the movie adaptation starring Debra Winger.

RECENTLY READ: Fay by Larry Brown

This may have been the quickest read of my life. 400 some-odd pages in 3 nights, and it was all I could do not to read during the day. Larry Brown held my attention not through real suspense, but by developing my personal interest in down-trodden, depraved characters and their well being. I’ve said it before - one of the best Southern writers I have read.

RECENTLY READ: Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

I keep reading Cormac McCarthy even though I know he does the same thing every book - crafting a brutal story with vivid characters in an austere setting, then sucking the humanity out of all of it to create a gaping moral void. Still, I keep reading Cormac McCarthy.

RECENTLY READ : Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

The hard thing about reading this book was avoiding the tidal wave of criticism and applause that came with it long enough to actually read the thing. I have heard it called it “brilliant” and “poorly reasoned”, and I would like to mark it somewhere in the middle, around “very thought-provoking”.

RECENTLY READ : Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey

I don’t care if Oprah flipped on the guy for writing fiction and passing it as non-fiction - the guy can write. This portrait of Los Angeles shows all sides - the wealthy and the poor, and the depravity and righteousness of both. Recommended.

RECENTLY READ - Libra by Don DeLillo

I love the way Delillo’s mind works like I love the way Michel Gondry’s mind works. Wrapping that mind around the JFK assassination is a perfect match for me. This book seems to illuminate Lee Harvey Oswald’s claim that he was “just a patsy” while simultaneously calling into question the role of government in any conspiracy, or whether conspiracies themselves are a tool to control the American people.