Whoever it was in 1969 who named the very first Bob Dylan bootleg album “Great White Wonder” may have had a mischievous streak. There are any number of ways you can interpret the title — most boringly, the cover was blank, like the Beatles’ “White Album” — but I like to see a sly allusion to “Moby-Dick.” In the seven years since the release of his first commercial record, Dylan had become the white whale of 20th-century popular song, a wild, unconquerable and often baffling force of musical nature who drove fans and critics Ahab-mad in their efforts to spear him, lash him to the hull and render him merely comprehensible. --- Bruce Handy, NYTimes ____________________________________________ I figured we can start fresh with Bob Dylan. Couldn't resist this photo of him striking a Woody Guthrie pose. Looks like only yesterday. Here is a link to the comments building up to this reading group.
I'm suffering from "chemo brain". I have trouble concentrating and so am not reading history but rather Dumas and literary thrillers. God knows I love history but I need the suspense of an unknown outcome if I am going to keep turning the pages of a book.
ReplyDeleteI've just finished "The Club Dumas". Johnny Depp as Lucas Corso turned me on to this one.
ReplyDeleteSo what literary thrillers can y'all recommend? I've ordered a copy of "The Athenian Murders" but that is a thin book and won't keep me busy long.
Welcome back, Chartres.
ReplyDeleteI can think of two that I've read that might be interest -- both page turners and both sort of disappoint by the end, but I guess that's the nature of the genre:
Caleb Carr's The Alienist and Doctorow's The Waterworks. Both 19th century historic/atmospheric "mysteries."
Others I've bought or have thought about reading: Liss' A Conspiracy of Paper, Mathew Pearl's The Dante Club (he also has one on Dickens and one on Poe that look interesting), and Iain Pears, An Instance of the Fingerpost.
These are all ones that have tempted me from time to time but I've never gotten around to reading.
chartres: Ditto on "Fingerpost" and "The Alienist", have read both and would start with "Fingerpost" which should keep you occupied a while.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to listen to some stories instead of reading, I recommend the archived episodes of NPR's "This American Life" for some gripping tales--all true, too!
"Switched at Birth" is a great place to start: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1253
Also, "The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar" http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1234
Then there's this one (esp. the last section) on "Babysitting": http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=905
There's lot to explore...enjoy.
Very best wishes as you take very good care.
So I was blithely celebrating my birthday, wondering whether "This Day In History" would be about the first atomic test bomb or the moon shot (tv networks all seem to be going for the latter) when I look in here to find the day went galactic in '94!
ReplyDeleteIs it appropriate to have another glass o' bubbly? I mean, how do you celebrate or commemorate such an event?
I pre-ordered Wilderness Warrior before the price shot up, as it often does at amazon. Look forward to its arrival.
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