Book reports A music critic on his first love, which was reading

Review by Choice Review

Christgau's critiques of popular music have long been admired in critical circles because of his eloquence and no-holds-barred approach. Known by many as a main music critic for The Village Voice, Christgau also reviewed the occasional book, in publications including the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Nation. Book Reports gathers selected literary essays along with reviews of music, fiction, nonfiction books. The books range from Ned Sublette's Cuba and Its Music (CH, Nov'04, 42-1467) to Rod Stewart's The Autobiography (2012), George Orwell's 1984 (with consideration of the work in the 1983 mindset), Jeff Sharlet's The Family (2008), and Robert Walser's Running with the Devil (CH, Dec'93, 31-2032). Though not everyone will agree with Christgau's views (this reader certainly did not), all readers will likely appreciate his style and approach and the depth of his knowledge about a broad range of popular music. Those curious about popular music may find Christgau's style aggressive at times, but that is exactly the point; Christgau pushes the reader to think. Seasoned readers will discover that Christgau questions authors in a way that encourages one to evaluate a book at a deeper level. In short, this is a great read for fans, critics, and scholars alike. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers. --Thomas R. Harrison, University of Central Florida

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.

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Review by Booklist Review

Music happens foremost to the body, reading to the mind even if some books do take you for quite the ride, writes Christgau (Going into the City, 2015), longtime Village Voice music critic and self-proclaimed dean of American rock critics. At least half of this collection of Christgau's book reviews and literary essays most previously published, from the 1970s to the present feature books about rock criticism itself, music history, and musicians in a variety of genres. The rest is meant to dive deeper into themes the author returns to often in his rock criticism: bohemia ( a realm so amorphous and declassé it's remained obscure as a scholarly byway ), literature, politics, and current events. Reviews of works by George Orwell, Roddy Doyle, Michael Chabon, and other (majority male) authors intermingle with essays on hedge funds, sex, and religion, spotlighting the author's eclectic interests and keen critical eyes and ears. Though Christgau partisans have the most to gain from this collection, it's also good for anyone looking for an accessible way into his extensive oeuvre.--Chad Comello Copyright 2019 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Veteran music critic Christgau (Going into the City) assembles a wide swath of book reviews, written over the past half century, by turns impressively meticulous and frustratingly self-indulgent. Christgau mostly writes on books by or about notable musicians, though he hits other cultural touchstones too, such as George Orwell's 1984. It's in these nonmusic pieces that Christgau is most successful, shifting focus from his encyclopedic music-industry knowledge to the nuances of language. His essay on books about the 2008 financial crisis is a highlight. Part of the problem, Christgau writes, is how bankers talk about what they do, such as by calling insurance policies "swaps," or, more generally, making "human beings into abstractions by making abstractions the substance of their private subcultural argot." It's unfortunate, then, that for all the attention paid to linguistic clarity, Christgau sometimes ignores his own advice, frequently employing hyperspecific references that obfuscate rather than illuminate. For instance, in a review of a book about singer-songwriter Sam Cooke, Christgau showers the reader with song and record label names yet neglects Cooke's defining characteristic: his voice. Indeed, it's Christgau's own voice that comes through most strongly in this collection, to both the advantage and detriment of the books under discussion. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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Review by Library Journal Review

Christgau (Is It Still Good to Ya? Fifty Years of Rock Criticism) shares more than 90 in-depth book reviews and essays from his decades-long career as a music critic. Divided into themes covering music history, biography, fiction, culture, and politics, this collection examines the common threads the author finds running through each grouping. The section "From Blackface Minstrelsy to Track-and-Hook" offers a snapshot of music history through the lenses of books on wide-ranging topics: the roots of American popular music, Cuban musicians, Romani instrumentalists, and even earworms. "Fictions" includes a fascinating review of George Orwell's 1984, originally published in the Village Voice in 1983. Finally, "Culture Meets Capital" explores politics and finance, which may seem odd coming from a rock critic, but Christgau points out that music has "tangled ties to capitalism" and that songs are influenced by the cultural landscapes in which they are created. VERDICT For Christgau fans and anyone seeking thought-provoking musings on books and music.-Melissa Engleman, Univ. of Tennessee at Martin © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

A culture critic roams far and wide.Veteran music critic Christgau (Is it Still Good to Ya?: Fifty Years of Rock Criticism, 2018, etc.) writes that he discovered his future profession when he read the journalism of Red Smith, Pauline Kael, Tom Wolfe, and Susan Sontag. This substantial collection of nearly 100 eclectic, thought-provoking, and idea-laden book reviews were published in a wide range of publications, many in the Village Voice (where he was a writer and editor from 1969 to 2006) and the Barnes Noble Review. Christgau writes that they "dive deeper" into two broad themes, bohemia and politics. His range of topics is impressive, and his references are prolific. Unsurprisingly, many of the books reviewed are music-related, but Christgau is just as adept delving into capitalism, pornography, and literature. He begins with three reviews of books by "master stylists," aka the "Collectibles." John Leonard is a "small treasure," Jonathan Lethem is a "hell of a critic," and the "best of all," Dave Hickey, has "been doing work that leaves your own flopping around on the deck." One of the longest and best pieces is an outstanding overview of the "lumpily indefatigable" Raymond Williams. Christgau calls him a "socialist intellectual" with an "appetite for knowledge." Another highlight is "A Darker Shade of Noir," an incisive and wide-ranging assessment of Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins novels. Christgau makes a good case for why these "historically evolving books constitute the finest detective oeuvre in American literature, surpassing even that of card-carrying formalist Hammett and dwarfing Chandler and Leonard and Macdonald." Other literary figures Christgau admires include Robert Coover, Michael Chabon ("language dazzling and deft"), and Roddy Doyle. There are also savvy assessments of autobiographies by Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, and Patti Smith, whose M Train, writes the author, "transported me."These sprightly, highly opinionated "adventures of an autodidact" reveal Christgau to be a highly literate, astute, and discerning book critic. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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