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July 18, 2006
Stranger than Fiction: A Summer Guide to Books About Music
It's summer. The days are long. It's hot. And if you're like me, you are looking to stay cool, perhaps by the pool with a book, or lounging between the aisles at the library, or at least in a Barnes and Noble sipping Frappacinos and reading books without having to buy them for a long time.
Which is why Big Kev and I have come up with a list of books you may or may not want to read this summer. Forget the best sellers, these are books by, for, and about music lovers. Rock on!
The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Authorised Biography by Charles White
DJ Wanda: Little Richard's influence on music is indisputable. There are also some great rare photos and interesting tidbits in this book, which bills itself as the "Authorised Biography" of Little Richard. That being said, when I finished the book, I didn't really like Little Richard as a person or care what happened to him. He writes extensively about his deviant sex life, his drug use, his homosexuality, his redemption and numerous "falls from grace," but somewhere in the middle, I stopped caring. It's all strangely hollow. I think he might be insane. I remember that when I saw him at SXSW, he worked the crowd, with helpers to hand out religious tracts. I have a signed autographed picture that says "God Loves and Cares for you. Please don't forget that."
Big Kev: I believe Little Richard is insane. That makes him a better rock star. The book might have been intended as a way for him to confess his sins in order to redeem himself, but the confessions come off as just plain bragging. I don’t know how much of what he says is true, probably not much, but he is quite a teller of tales. It’s up to the reader whether or not to believe stories of his airborne religious awakening or his backstage three-way with Buddy Holly and a stripper. Yes, it’s hollow and empty, but at least it’s sleazy.
About your SXSW experience - he’s been handing out the same picture and religious tracts for well over a
decade. I got one when I saw him play in 1994 and my wife got the same one a couple of years ago when he
jumped out of a limo in Hollywood and started handing them out to people on the sidewalk.
Wrecking Crew: The Really Bad News Griffith Park Pirates by John Albert
DJ Wanda: Out of all the books we've read so far, this is easily my favorite, which is surprising because I am definitely not a baseball fan. This is not a book about baseball, however, although if you love the game, you'll find much to delight you here. John Albert actually writes a book with believable male characters, and there are precious few of those around. Yes, the characters are not always likeable; they make poor choice after poor choice. But they are fallible, human, and struggling and you root for them just as much as any sports team. In that way, I believe John Albert has written an essentially "human" story; his character captures the male voice just as well as "male" authors like Hemingway, Faulkner, and Cormac McCarthy. Unlike Hemingway (too unfeeling), Faulkner (too hard to read) and McCarthy (too dark), Albert really voices a kind of "everyman" in his protagonist, if that "everyman" were an unemployed ex-junkie. And really, who hasn't felt like that? The book spares no one: the female characters are just as culpable as the male (no hookers with hearts of gold here) and everyone struggles with their own demons.
The book is bleak at times, funny at others, and sometimes downright gross. Well-written and captivating. A good read, any time of year.
Big Kev: Not really a music book per se, it’s actually more of a feel-good sports story, but it has some musicians as real-life characters. Wanda’s favorite guitar hero Dave Navarro makes an appearance as well as an un-named, wig-wearing rock star that is probably Gene Simmons. As the saying goes – close enough for rock and roll. Anyway, we made the rules so we get to break them whenever we want to.
Here’s the story – a bunch of misfits, 12-steppers, and bohemian types get together and form an adult-league baseball team. Superficially, this book is about baseball but you don’t have to have an interest in baseball to enjoy it. It’s full of fascinating characters, each of whom has their own hard-luck story, finding each other and establishing friendships and support networks. Before I make it sound like some kind of corny Norman Rockwell painting, I have to say that not all of the intertwined stories have happy endings. Sometimes it’s heartbreaking, sometimes it’s hilarious, but it’s never boring. There’s some pretty disgusting stuff here, but I mean that in a good way. Highly recommended.
I met John Albert, the author of this book, twenty-some years ago through a mutual friend. I barfed at his house and he made an audio recording of it. Long story.
Don't Try This At Home: A Year in the Life of Dave Navarro by Dave Navarro and Neill Strauss
DJ Wanda: My boyfriend got this for Christmas, so I read it. This is the ultimate cheesy vacation read - all calories, no nutrition. Even if you are a huge Dave Navarro fan (and I don't know any), I can't imagine why you would want to spend 10 minutes in the life of a self-centered, narcissistic asshole like Dave Navarro, let alone a year. I kept putting this book down, and swearing I would never pick it up again, then picking it up. I kept wishing he would overdose and die, but I knew he was still alive, and had a cheesy reality show, so he wouldn't. What a shame. After finishing the book, I couldn't tell you why the man is famous. Almost everyone near him dies at some point; I believe that the man sucks the life out of people, like a modern day Dorian Gray. Read this if you have absolutely nothing better to do and don't pay for the book, by any means.
Big Kev: What a snooze-fest. For a book about an egotistical rock star, this is incredibly boring. He’s certainly no Little Richard – as a talent or even the subject of a book. For some reason, I want to compare him to Courtney Love. They’ve both become the kind of celebrity that is famous merely for being famous. Sure, they both make albums once in a while but nobody ever hears them or buys them. Both Navarro and Love have worn out the welcome mats of countless drug rehab centers, but at least Courtney Love does interesting things like breaking into houses and starting bar fights. All Dave Navarro does in this book is stay home and take drugs. One of the few highlights is when his whole body breaks out in scabs.
If this book were made into a movie, who would you cast as Dave Navarro – Corey Feldman or Gary Coleman?
Posted by DJWanda at July 18, 2006 10:48 AM
