Biography

All posts tagged Biography

THE BEATLES ON THE ROOF – Tony Barrell

Posted by Daniel on December 6, 2019
Posted in: ENTERTAINMENT, MEMOIR, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

How do you write an entire book about an incident that last only a couple of hours? By using the moment as the center point and moving outward, like the ripples in a pond.

I’ve been seeing a fair number of books about The Beatles in the last few years and I suspect there’s a bit of a rush to gather as many first-hand accounts as possible before we lose access to those who were there for The Beatles’ various moments. This is no exception and author Tony Barrell nicely captures the memories of as many people involved in the actual performance on the rooftop, the people who worked in the the Apple Records building at the time, people who worked in the offices around Apple Records whose afternoon was interrupted by the loud music, and those who were either passing by or those who rushed to the scene when word got out that The Beatles were playing some new songs, live at the Apple Records building.

For those of us who have even a modest interest in The Beatles (and if you didn’t why would you consider this book?) we probably now a few basic things about the ‘concert on the roof.’ First, ‘concert’ is a bit of a misnomer.  It wasn’t a concert as much as it was a recording session. And filming was a means to an end … a way to fulfill an obligation for a film.  But it was quite spur of the moment, and we get some good inside information from those who worked at Apple.  Sometimes the information is contradictory, but that definitely adds to the ‘realness’ of the moment.

Things we don’t often think about when we talk about an event such as this are the non-players who are affected.  Reading about the neighbors who were annoyed by the loud music and the disruption caused by people standing around to watch and listen at first seems inconceivable, but of course it makes a certain amount of sense.  Only those of us who are Beatles fans would prioritize the impromptu concert/recording session over any other daily business.

I enjoyed reading about some of the other people who were there at the recording. From secretaries who wanted to be a part of this momentous occasion to assistant engineer Alan Parsons.  Barrell even manages to get comments from some of the police who we remember from the film coming to stop the playing.  What I didn’t know before this was that someone had previously checked in with the local police station and were told that if the owners of the building didn’t complain, they wouldn’t have a problem with it.  Since the Beatles owned the building, they assumed they were good to play.

When I’ve watched the film, I’ve wondered why there weren’t more people around (aside from the smaller space) and this is addressed as well (concerns about the roof being able to support the weight).

This was an interesting book and while the distinction is slight, this was more about a moment in time, featuring The Beatles, than it was about The Beatles specifically. We don’t really get as much about the Fab Four themselves as we might in many other books written about the group.  But we do get a number of first-hand accounts about what it was like being there, and the reactions to this group who didn’t perform in public much any more, making a surprise rooftop appearance.

Looking for a good book? The Beatles On the Roof by Tony Barrell explores reactions from many different people to The Beatles’ noted rooftop concert.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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The Beatles on the Roof

author: Tony Barrell

publisher: Omnibus Press 

ISBN: 1785585789

paperback, 192 pages

TOMBSTONE – Tom Clavin

Posted by Daniel on November 29, 2019
Posted in: MEMOIR, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Tombstone, the city, holds a bit of magical appeal to me.  I find that I am enjoying reading history books more and more (perhaps because I’ve got more of it myself?) and I absolutely love the American Southwest for its landscape and history and few cities in this region have more history that Tombstone, Arizona.

My knowledge of the gunfight at the OK Corral, I realize, comes from popular culture (as provided in films and television) and not from the history books, so I was very glad to correct that with Tom Clavin’s book.

What Clavin has done is taken the pivotal gunfight and researched the heck out of the history of all the primary, secondary, and even tertiary people involved, giving us a glimpse of the character traits of each individual (were they prone to fighting or over-reacting, were they easy to anger or did they often look for alternatives?)

There are so many more people involved in the ordeal than were at the corral and there was a history among the players that weaves back and well before any of them arrived at Tombstone, Arizona. It’s a complicated web and quite fascinating to discover.

Clavin’s research is immaculate.  It is fascinating how much of a trail we all leave and that Clavin was able to track down so much information about these people, from the 1800’s, and put together a time-line of where and when people worked or met one another is absolutely incredible.  Like a lot of modern bio-history books, there is a bit of the author making assumptions about the words spoken or the intentions behind an action (usually based on general human motivations), but it was nice to read him at least once admit to not knowing why someone proceeded the way that they did, but instead offered up a couple of different possible explanations based on their history.

In addition to his tremendous research, Clavin’s writing style is smooth and his sense of storytelling moves this history from moment to moment with wonderful anticipation and ease.  It is easy to read this book in a short amount of time, but you might not want to so that you can really absorb all the information proved.

Looking for a good book? Tombstone, by Tom Clavin, provides more information about the city, famous for its noted gunfight, and the people involved, than you ever imagined. This is a book not to be missed if you have even the most remote interest in history.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Tombstone: The Earp Brothers, Doc Holliday, and the Vendetta Ride from Hell

author: Tom Clavin

publisher: St. Martin’s Press

ISBN: 1250214580

hardcover, 400 pages

THE BEATLES FROM A TO ZED – Peter Asher

Posted by Daniel on November 22, 2019
Posted in: ENTERTAINMENT, MEMOIR, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

It surprises me a little bit that publishers are still pumping out books about The Beatles … but it surprises only a little bit.  The lifespan of finding an audience is likely on the wane, as are the people who will have had a first-hand encounter worth telling.

This particular book is unique because it’s presented in alphabetical order (sort of), and because it’s written by Peter Asher.  For those who don’t know, Peter Asher is A) half of the 1960’s pop duo Peter & Gordon (whose first [and biggest] hit was “World Without Love” in 1964 – written by Paul McCartney), and 2) the brother of Jane Asher who was Paul McCartney’s girlfriend through much of the mid-1960’s.

During this period (early to mid-1960’s) Paul McCartney lived with the Asher’s and so Peter has a very unique view point for a number of McCartney moments.  Hearing about the early versions of songs coming from his room, or how McCartney would walk into his room and come out an hour or so later with a finished masterpiece.  This is the kind of Beatles memory that we’ve never heard before and generally makes this book worth reading for Beatles aficionados.

One of the pleasant quirks to the book is that Asher (who is an extremely bright person) plays fast and loose with the alphabet and the Beatles catalog.  For instance, when Asher discusses “All You Need Is Love” it is not found under the letter “A” but under the letter “T.” “T”?!  I won’t explain why, but it makes sense in the context of how Asher presents this book.

Also, the alphabet is not just used to discuss song titles, but other aspects of the Beatles and their lives and history.  “G” for instance brings Asher to discuss Germany and the Beatles’ time there. “S” talks about the Ed Sullivan show.

What is also nice to note is that the book doesn’t focus solely on The Beatles as a group, but songs, concerts, and/or events that are a part of each Beatle’s solo career or work with another group (i.e. Wings, Traveling Wilburys, etc) are also often brought up through Asher’s discourse.

While I am a Beatles fan, I can’t say that I’m a Beatlemaniac or deeply knowledgeable about the Fab Four.  I can’t quote anything about their history (I can’t even quote most of their songs), but I enjoy their music, and as an avid reader, I enjoy reading about them. This book was a very easy read. Given the format, I found that when I had a moment to read something, but couldn’t get involved in a story, I could pick this up and get a good, short read.

Looking for a good book? The Beatles From A to Zed by Peter Asher is a clever, fresh look at The Beatles by someone who is able to offer to new insight to The Beatles’ history.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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The Beatles from A to Zed: An Alphabetical Mystery Tour

author: Peter Asher

publisher: Henry Holt & Company

ISBN: 1250209595

hardcover, 272 pages

SUPER BOYS – Brad Ricca

Posted by Daniel on November 20, 2019
Posted in: GRAPHIC NOVEL, MEMOIR, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Well this was informative!

It’s pretty hard not to know who the character of Superman is, but naming the creators of Superman might be much more challenging to most people.  Fans of comics and graphic novels likely already know of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and even someone like myself – very much on the outer fringe of comic/graphic novel reading – knew about the long battle Siegel and Shuster had to retain (or regain) the rights to the character.

Biographer Brad Ricca has done some exhaustive research and we get a look at these two young men from their early school days, to the high school days when the early characteristics of Superman could be found.

Starting as a fan and writing letters science fiction magazines, it was clear that Jerry was a go-getter and a planner and he thought he’d get rich writing stories. When he Jerry met Joe, he saw someone who could illustrate his stories and together, like many high school boys who dram of making it big doing something they love, the multiple ways that a dream can crash never occurred to them.

Small successes built up and they were producing stories for comics at a fantastic rate, and making good (for them, at the time) money.  But it was a difficult period in publishing (when isn’t it?) and sometimes they worked on hand-shake agreements or with promises for more later.  And through innocence and bad choices, they gave away their rights to what would become one of the most iconic figures in all of pop culture. And once those rights were gone, Jerry and Joe weren’t essential to be part of the story-telling process, and while their creation would make millions of dollars for a publisher, Joe and Jerry were often challenged just to find work.

Joe and Jerry’s story is quite sad, and not all that unusual for those working in this industry. Much of their later lives are spent challenging the rights to Superman and trying to get their due and even now, at the end of this book, their families are trying to get these rights maintained.

The story of the lawsuits goes on a bit too long for me – though I recognize that this is what consumed Jerry for much of his life.  Still, I found his early years – the environment in which he grew to become a writer – the most fascinating.

This is a really well-written biography. It is thorough and doesn’t really manage to take sides (in the debate about rights ownership), which is nice.  Yes…it’s about Joe and Jerry and there is going to be some bias toward their being allowed to cash in on their character, but Ricca himself doesn’t outright say that.  He lets Jerry say it.

Definitely worth reading.

Looking for a good book? Super Boys by Brad Ricca is a solid biography of the creators of Superman, from their early days before Superman, to their decades-long battle for the rights to their greatest creation. It is fascinating and well written.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster–the Creators of Superman

author: Brad Ricca

publisher: St. Martin’s Press

ISBN: 0312643802

hardcover, 423 pages

LITTLE CREATURES – Ana Gerhard

Posted by Daniel on October 17, 2019
Posted in: CHILDREN'S, ENTERTAINMENT, MEMOIR, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

When you can educate a child while you are entertaining her or him, then you’ve succeeded.  Little Creatures, by Ana Gerhard does this with gusto.

Introducing a child to an art form, especially something in the ‘classics’ (i.e. classical music, art, literature) is often a challenge (typically because a child is exposed to so much pop culture in everyday life) but what Gerhard does is select a subject that children can identify with … animals and insects. Fortunately there have been a few composers and compositions that draw inspiration from the animal kingdom from which Gerhard has to choose.

Some of these selections are fairly obvious – “Flight of the Bumblebee” by Rimsky-Korsakov and “The Frog” by Hayden and “Two Insect Pieces” by Britten – and some much less so – “Israel in Egypt” by Handel, “Bardic Sounds” by Mertz, and “Sensemayá” by Revueltas.

Each selected piece (there are twenty) gets one brief description and a double page spread of artwork (beautifully and wildly created by Mauricio Gómez Morin). In the description, we typically learn a little about the animal selected, how the composer uses that animal’s sound in the selected audio piece, and maybe a little bit about the composer.

Selected musical terms are highlighted and there is a glossary at the back of the book that is quite helpful.

While targeted to a child, unless the adult reading this to/with the child is quite familiar with the classical music world (I am not) then there is plenty for the adults to learn here as well, and this book seems to cater to we adults almost as much or more than to the youngsters.  There is a section of the book with a mini biography of all the composers included in this volume, as well as a timeline of the composers’ lives and the period of music in which they composed.

The book comes with a CD with sections of the selected works (and a listening guide inside the book). I have to admit that there were a few selections in which I simply could not hear the animal represented, but I recognize that this may not be true for all readers/listeners.  I would have liked longer works on the CD, but I recognize the many challenges with that.  Certainly most of the selected works can be found with a couple of quick online searches or by visiting a library with CD selections.

There is a lot to like about this book and it will be great to have on the bookshelf, but at the same time it feels like it is missing just a little something more.  For me, it’s the lack of story to draw the child in. Non-fiction is okay for children – it can be great! – but I still feel like for a child to sit and listen to someone reading to them they need to be drawn in by more than just the pictures, and the two or three paragraphs about each selected work just isn’t captivating enough for the multiple readings a picture book usually provides.

Looking for a good book? If you are looking to encourage your child to appreciate classical music, or even if you want to learn more yourself, Little Creatures: An Introduction to Classical Music by Ana Gerhard, with art by Mauricio Gómez Morin, is a splendid choice. But the lack of a catchy narrative surrounding each piece may have some youngsters grow bored during the reading. This may be better for the older reader, despite the picture book format.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

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Little Creatures: An Introduction to Classical Music

author: Ana Gerhard

artist: Mauricio Gómez Morin

publisher: The Secret Mountain

ISBN: 2924774551

hardcover (with CD), 62 pages

PLAYING TO THE GODS – Peter Rader

Posted by Daniel on September 30, 2019
Posted in: ENTERTAINMENT, MEMOIR, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Sarah Bernhardt. Eleonora Duse. Most people are familiar with Sarah’s name, even if they don’t know why she is famous. Only a few dedicated history or theatre buffs probably know the name of Eleonora Duse. But at one time their rivalry was watched and reported internationally and the art of acting, as we know it today, largely came about through this clash of theatre titans.

Biographer Peter Rader has written an excellent account of both actresses, their history, their rise (and fall [and rise again]) in the theatre world, their extremely different approaches to acting, and their rivalry.

Sarah Bernhardt is likely one of the first actors to understand that the press/media could be put to good use and that there really was no such thing as ‘bad press.’ She became bigger than life and made sure that the media, everywhere she went, knew of her ‘oddities’ such as traveling wit a tiger or sleeping in coffins. These things got her attention and attention meant curiosity, and curiosity meant ticket sales to the shows she was performing.  But odd as it seems, Sarah’s art of acting was based on a style that today we would dismiss as wooden with huge gestures and, as was the style of the time, required very specific poses to suggest very specific moods and reactions.

Most of today’s actors are familiar with, and generally study a style of acting known as the Stanislavski Method (or just “The Method” as in “Method” acting).  Stanislavski developed that style from watching Eleonora Duse. Duse, a fair bit younger than Bernhardt, ‘felt’ her characters and became the characters rather than just displaying canned poses.

While it might seem strange to us today, Sarah’s style of acting was considered most appropriate, while Eleonora’s was shocking and disturbing to many. But Eleonora had her supporters (including theatre reviews such as Oscar Wilde) and the two great actresses would clash many times, including a time in France when they would appear in the same role, in the same play, in theatres across the street from one another.

This really was an engrossing, fascinating read. Rader captures a really pivotal time in the theatre world, commanded by two women – one largely forgotten despite the fact that it was her style that we still see today.

Although it might seem like this has a very specific interest (acting) I strongly recommend this to anyone interested in biographies or history as Rader really captures a lot about this time period (mid-to-late 1800’s to the early 1920’s).

This had me wanting to learn more about both women and I’ve watched the very few YouTube videos of their few movies.

Looking for a good book? Playing to the Gods by Peter Rader is a tremendous biography of two actors whose styles clashed as one method of acting was on the way out and another was just coming into fashion. But this is more than a book about acting and two famous actresses, it’s also a book about the struggle and rise of two women in an era when women weren’t allowed to take leadership roles.

The book is nicely illustrated with photos.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Playing to the Gods: Sarah Bernhardt, Eleonora Duse, and the Rivalry That Changed Acting Forever

author: Peter Rader

publisher: Simon & Schuster

ISBN: 1476738378

hardcover, 277 pages

LOCKED IN ICE – Peter Lourie

Posted by Daniel on September 25, 2019
Posted in: MEMOIR, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized, YA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

How many readers out there know the name, Fridtjof Nansen? If you already know who he is, or what he is remembered for, then color me impressed!

Nansen was, among other things, a scientist and an explorer at a time when mankind was still trying to reach the North Pole. He was the first to cross Greenland using sleds, but his goal was still to get to the North Pole.  He knew that there were ships which had been crushed by ice floes, but he was convinced that there were as-yet-undiscovered ocean currents that a ship could use to get to the North Pole if such a ship could manage to survive the dangerous ice.  With that in mind, Nansen had a special ship built, The Fram, which he would intentionally have frozen in to the ice with the expectation that currents would bring the ice (and hence the ship) closer to the Pole.

Nansen has a long list of men who want to join him on this expedition and so gets to hand-pick his crew. Finding men that he thinks will get along with one another for months, perhaps years, in close quarters, as well as those with the necessary scientific or sailing skills, is his main challenge.

Nansen’s design of the Fram works and despite some rigorous crushing by the ice, the Fram‘s hull holds out. But the ship doesn’t travel northward the way he hopes, and Nansen and one other set out by dogsled to try to reach the North Pole.  It shouldn’t be revealing too much to note that they do not make it.  If they had, the name Nansen would be known by every schoolchild.

But what Nansen does, and manages to survive, for a year in the Arctic with dogs and a fellow explorer is fascinating. Both he and Hjalmar Johansen, the man who accompanied Nansen on the sled trek toward the pole, kept meticulous journals. They almost appear superhuman with some of their efforts (fighting off a polar bear, swimming in frigid polar waters to retrieve a kayak, etc) … it’s precisely the kinds of things that will engage younger readers.

And if the voyage and exploration toward the North Pole weren’t enough, we get a little more information about Nansen after he returns to Norway.  He works with displaced people after World War I and is awarded a Nobel peace Prize for his efforts.

Fridtjof Nansen was a truly amazing man.  Scientist, explorer, inventor, diplomat, humanitarian.  I was really glad to read the book and learn about this early exploration and about the man.  The book is written such that it’s appropriate for young readers (middle school students and up) but anyone who thinks it looks interesting should enjoy the read.  The book is liberally illustrated with photos and copies of sketches made by Nansen and others along the way.

Looking for a good book? Locked in Ice by Peter Lourie is a well-written, well-researched biography of Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen and his attempt to be the first person to reach the North Pole. It is definitely worth reading.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Locked in Ice: Nansen’s Daring Quest for the North Pole

author: Peter Lourie

publisher: Henry Holt & Company

ISBN: 1250137640

hardcover, 336 pages