Just Kids, by Patti Smith

Patti Smith is the proto-punk goddess whose music is fierce, but hardly every listener’s cup of tea. Robert Mapplethorpe was a photographer whose most famous works were pictures of nude men, often depicted in sexually explicit poses and masochistic acts. I like some edgy things, but neither of these artists really do much for me, and a more conservative person might run the other way. I’m not even a huge fan of their scene, where style and innovation seem to matter more than substance, but I’ve always been curious about those magical moments in history where a group of creative people find each other and use the energy of their meeting to create something new.

Patti Smith’s memoir, Just Kids, captures just such a time perfectly. Smith came to New  York in 1967 after giving up a baby to adoption upstate. She was young and looking for a fresh start. One of the first people she met was Robert Mapplethorpe, a minor acquaintance who became her fast friend after saving her from a bad date. The two moved in together and tried to make a go of a relationship, even though it soon became apparent that Mapplethorpe was obviously homosexual. Patti somewhat naively believed that their love would overcome Robert’s sexual preference, and so began several years of ups and downs. Robert could be incredibly supportive of Patti and her art, but substance abuse and a need for fame could make him neglectful at other times.

The background here is fascinating, as Smith and Mapplethorpe rub elbows with the artists and scenesters of the Chelsea Hotel, Andy Warhol’s Factory, and the pioneering music venue CBGB’s. The story follows the early rise of both friends, then jumps forward a decade and ends poignantly with Robert’s death from AIDS in 1989.

Smith writes with real heart. The prose gets a bit florid at times, but that’s easy to forgive, as is her sometimes naive view of Mapplethorpe, as the author so clearly feels all of the emotions behind her story honestly. This especially shines through on the audiobook. Smith is a clumsy reader, a bit monotone and with funny pronunciations for some words (“drawlings” instead of “drawings”), but she’s so absolutely free of pretense that I found the awkwardness charming and authentic, not off-putting.

Check the WRL catalog for Just Kids

Or try it on audiobook on CD

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Really the Blues, by Mezz Mezzrow and Buzz White

It’s “Lost in the Stacks” week, and Bud is back with another post:

“Poppa, have you got any idea how a man took to jazz in the early days? Do you know how he spent years watching the droopy chicks in cathouses, listening to his cellmates moaning low behind the bars, digging the riffs the wheels were knocking out when he rode the rods – and then all of a sudden picked up a horn and began to tell the whole story in music? I’m going to explain that.”

So says Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow in the opening chapter of his strange but fascinating autobiography,  Really the Blues. Mezzrow, a white Jewish kid, was born in 1899. A wild child from the beginning, he landed in reform school at the age of 15 where he discovered and became completely enamored of black culture in general and New Orleans jazz in particular. He learned how to play the clarinet and immersed himself in the jazz world of the 1920s, a world that, for him, revolved around three big Ms – musicians, mobsters and marijuana. As the story unfolds we learn a lot about all three.

Really the Blues will appeal to music lovers because Mezzrow knew just about every famous jazz artist of the period. He jammed with Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Bessie Smith, Joe Oliver, Baby Dodds, Gene Krupa and many others. His unadulterated portraits of these talented people and their colorful milieu are fascinating.

The Mob also played a prominent role in Mezz’s life. He worked in some of Al Capone’s road houses, was turned onto opium by a member of Detroit’s vicious Purple Gang, and had Dutch Schulz try to muscle in on his marijuana distribution business.

And, yes, there is marijuana, lots of, as it was referred to in the ‘20s, muta, tea, reefer or muggles (the word pre-dates Harry Potter). In fact, Mezzrow was such a heavy user (a viper) and dealer that in his circle of acquaintances it became known by another slang term–the mezz–and was referenced as such in the song, “If You’re a Viper” by Stuff Smith. The book contains gritty descriptions of the joys and subsequent lows of drug addiction. His four-year stint as an opium addict is particularly grim.

The stories are great, whether or not they’re all true is questionable, but what makes this book distinctive is the style in which it’s written.  As you can tell by the paragraph quoted above, the prose tends to flow like musical cadences and is rife with jazzy slang. This can make for disconcerting reading at first but it soon seems natural and appropriate to the author and what he’s describing.  If you have difficulty with the slang, the back pages contain a helpful glossary.

This is not a book for everyone. It’s a strange, often lurid tale, told in a distinctly unusual manner by an arch iconoclast. If you’re looking for something warm and fuzzy this ain’t it.  But if you have an interest in the history of music or the Chicago underworld or are just in the mood for something really unusual then give Really the Blues a try.  It’s a book you won’t forget.

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“King Lehr” and the Gilded Age, by Baroness Elizabeth Wharton Drexel Beresford Decies

“Bud” shares this as the first “Lost in the Stacks” week post:

Picture this scene:

A beautiful young woman sits in her boudoir.  Married that morning, she anxiously awaits her new husband.  In he comes and makes the following statement, “There are some things I must say to you, and it is better that I should say them now at the very beginning so that there can be no misunderstanding between us.”  “In public I shall be to you everything that a most devoted husband should be to his wife… I will give you courtesy, respect and apparently devotion. But you must expect nothing more from me. When we are alone I do not intend to keep up the miserable pretense, the farce of love and sentiment. Our marriage will never be a marriage in anything but name. I do not love you, I can never love you …The less we see of one another except in the presence of others the better.”  The shocked girl asks him why he married her? With a bitter laugh he replies, “Since you force me to do so I must tell you the unflattering truth that your money is your only asset in my eyes.”

Wow.

Although this sounds like something  from a hackneyed romance novel, it’s not. This really happened to Elizabeth Drexel Lehr, and the story of her life with Harry Lehr, the gold digging cad that she was unfortunate enough to marry,  is recounted in the rather astonishing autobiography, King Lehr and the Gilded Age, by Lady Decies (formerly Elizabeth Drexel Lehr).

Elizabeth was a child of wealth and grew up happy and comfortable in late 19^th century New York City. Harry Lehr was also born into money,  but when his father died he was left penniless, embittered and determined to make his way back into the privileged world of the wealthy. His plan was twofold, first he ingratiated  himself to society matrons by being ever so engaging, witty and fun. He survived on their largesse and kickbacks from suppliers whose goods he encouraged his benefactors to purchase. Secondly, he kept an eye out for a wealthy and pliable heiress to marry. Poor Elizabeth was gullible enough to fall for his smarmy charms.

What may be surprising to modern readers is that she didn’t divorce Harry the day after the shocking  wedding night declaration. Fear of shaming her mother and alienating herself from her society friends kept her bound to Lehr for decades despite the fact that he emotionally abused her and lavishly indulged all his whims with her money.

The narrative follows their unhappy life together as they travel amongst the rich and powerful in the U.S. and Europe during the early years of the 20^th century.  We get a decidedly jaundiced view of the American “Downton Abbey” crowd, although many of the grandees mentioned will probably be unknown to people nowadays.

Elizabeth’s story is an interesting expose of a lost world and its dubious mores and manners. The book was considered quite shocking when it was originally published in 1938.  It’s an  engrossing page-turner for people who enjoy social history, women’s lives or scandal among the rich and famous.

NOTE: There’s a famous photo of Lady Decies taken by Weegee. Here you see Elizabeth going to the opera in 1943. The image makes a startling  contrast to the beautiful painted portrait of her on the cover of the book.

Check the WRL catalog for “King Lehr” and the Gilded Age

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Audubon: The Making of an American, by Richard Rhodes

Readers looking for a writer who can smoothly blend together interesting characters and hard facts will enjoy the writings of Richard Rhodes.  Like yesterday’s author, John McPhee, Rhodes is known for both the quality of his research into the subjects about which he is writing and for an ability to make complex topics understandable.

This ability is most evident in Rhodes’s trilogy on atomic weapons, beginning with The Making of the Atomic Bomb. In these books and his other works, Rhodes brings a sense of scale to the broader story by relating the lives of those people involved.  In the case of his works on nuclear warfare, soldiers, scientists, and politicians all have their say, and the stories of their lives ground the science in humanity.

Like McPhee though, Rhodes can also write perceptively about the natural world, and his biography of John James Audubon, one of America’s first naturalists, is an excellent introduction to Rhodes’s writings.  Here, Rhodes deftly captures the a sense of the possibilities that the undeveloped expanses of North America raised for naturalists in the early days of the country.  Through the story of the life of Haitian-born Audubon’s early years  in France, his emigration to America, and his struggles to support his family, Rhodes also tells the story of the early days of the Republic.

Audubon’s entrepreneurial spirit and drive to succeed make him an excellent choice to model the spirit of the young America.  Rhodes does an excellent job at conveying both the details of Audubon’s life and of the broader canvas on which Audubon lived and worked without overwhelming the reader in either case.  Readers interested in the early days of ornithology, in the development of the American republic, or in the development of an artist will find much to enjoy here.

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The Napoleon of Crime: The Life and Times of Adam Worth, Master Thief, by Ben Macintyre

While waiting for my turn to read Macintyre’s latest book about spies and the D-Day landing in World War II, I picked up this older work by the author.  Past reading experience suggested that any biography by Macintyre would be worth reading.  This one did not disappoint.

Although not well known these days, in his heyday, Adam Worth was an international thief of extraordinary renown.  Born in the 1840’s, Worth was of German-Polish descent.  He lived with his parents until his early teens, but left for New York before he was 15.  Never taller than about five feet, two inches, he was given the nickname “Little Adam” and soon learned the “craft” of picking pockets. When the Civil War started he joined a New York regiment and went to war. During the war, Worth became adept at deserting one regiment only to join a different one and get paid an enlistment bonus. While the con got him multiple payments, it didn’t keep him out of battle and he developed a lifelong dislike for violence. This was why Worth’s criminal career was highlighted by careful planning, expert execution and clean getaways.

At the height of his power, Worth planned forgery scams, bank robberies, art heists and jewel thefts. His exploits read like fiction, so it is not surprising that his life of crime has been the basis for several books and movies. In fact, the author and other scholars maintain that Worth was the model for Arthur Conan Doyle’s Professor Moriarty.

Able to transform himself again and again, for years Worth lived in London using the name Henry Judson Raymond. Outward appearances would have neighbors believe he was a member of the gentry, wealthy, English and with no obvious source for his vast financial resources.  He was known to be generous to all who asked and excessively loyal to his compatriots.

Macintyre admires Worth’s positive attributes and suggests, as criminal masterminds go, he was among the most benign.  He robbed from the rich and gave to himself and his friends. He had a keen eye for fine art (among his most famous heists was stealing Thomas Gainsborough’s The Duchess of Devonshire, which he hid for 20 years), a healthy respect for competent lawmen (the Pinkertons in particular) and the lifelong belief that he was justified in his actions because he was not a bad person.

Macintyre makes a convincing case that Worth was nearly unique in the Victorian criminal world. Not only did his career span over three decades, he simultaneously lived the dual lives of English gentleman and unabashed thief. The author’s style is easy to read and digest. His research is extensive and impressive, although Macintyre is fortunate that toward the end of his life Worth bonded with William Pinkerton and the thief shared his life’s story with the private eye (who recorded it). If you enjoy nineteenth-century historical biography you should try The Napoleon of Crime. It offers a fascinating and interesting slice of the Victorian underworld rarely seen elsewhere.

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The King of New Orleans: How the Junkyard Dog Became Professional Wrestling’s First Black Superhero, by Greg Klein

This is definitely a genre book. It is for people who want to know more about the history of American professional wrestling. Specifically, it is for people who crave more information about wrestling in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Even more specifically, the book is about wrestling in the Mid South wrestling promotion (a.k.a. territory). Mid South was the territory run by Bill Watts (an icon in American professional wrestling). In the late ‘70s, Watts turned Sylvester Ritter into the first undisputed African-American wrestling superstar: The Junk Yard Dog, a.k.a. JYD. Klein wrote this book to ensure that Ritter’s legacy as the first big name African-American professional wrestler was not lost. Klein makes an easy case to follow and provides an interesting story along the way, although the author’s thesis is perhaps overreaching.

The book starts by offering a brief history of some of the more prominent wrestling territories. Since the machinations of wrestling territories in the mid to late 20th century were convoluted at best, Klein is wise to gloss over them, touching only on the fact that numerous territories existed and that there were battles for fans and profits among them. Klein also puts his story into context with respect to some of the most famous and infamous wrestlers of the period including Verne Gagne, Hulk Hogan, Ernie Ladd, and Andre the Giant.

The most compelling element of Klein’s narrative history is that the Junkyard Dog’s success was prescient in terms of the rise of African-Americans in the professional wrestling industry, as well as their integration into this form of entertainment. JYD had fans of all ages and races which Klein feels was his legacy, at least within Mid South. In the author’s words, “although the Junk Yard Dog was King of New Orleans for the length of his run [1979-1984], it was the decision to base the entire territory around him that really broke barriers.” In this way, Klein suggests JYD’s role as wrestling superstar had overarching civil rights consequences. At the same time, any civil rights stance was unintended, as the territory promoters were motivated by greed, not skin color: JYD was a good draw, and that translated into profits. Klein does note that “wrestling does, in fact, exploit nationality and ethnic stereotypes to create drama,” and JYD’s entire career was directly tied to that reality.

Klein’s writing is straightforward, perhaps reflective of his journalist background. He’s retelling this story to make sure it is preserved. Interestingly, Ritter is almost tangential to the book. Klein focuses on the decision makers and JYD rarely had a say in his in-ring persona. I have the impression he was told where, when, and whom to wrestle. Ritter’s personal life is barely touched upon.

Klein’s The King of New Orleans is a history of Mid South Wrestling and the Junkyard Dog. His story continues into JYD’s more well-known time as a national performer with the World Wrestling Federation, however, Klein notes that by then JYD’s personal and professional lives were unraveling. Fans of professional wrestling who did not watch during the 1980s might learn a thing or two reading this book. However, since i- depth analysis is not something that needs to be vigorously applied to wrestling, one should read for the story, not for the insight.

Check the WRL catalog for The King of New Orleans

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One Pair of Hands, by Monica Dickens

The popularity of Downton Abbey and Upstairs Downstairs has brought interest back to old books like Below Stairs,  first published in 1968, and Rose, My Life in Service from 1975, not to mention older TV series like Flambards.

Another half-forgotten book in this category is Monica Dickens’s One Pair of Hands from 1939. Monica Dickens was the great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens, but this isn’t her main claim to fame in her series of books about her forays into the working world in the 1930s.

Monica Dickens is unusual in the stable of domestic servant memoirists as she didn’t have to take on domestic servitude to prevent herself or family from becoming destitute. She came from a wealthy family and was a debutante who came out with all the glamour of a debutante ball. She became bored with her social existence and thought, “Surely… there is more to life than going out to parties that one doesn’t enjoy with people one doesn’t like?”. She was thrown out of drama school and had taken a class in French cooking, so she decided to turn to cooking.

I have difficulty believing that anyone would do the dishes who didn’t absolutely have to, let alone scrub a stone floor on their hands and knees using a wooden handled pig’s hair brush and harsh ammonia. As I said in my October post about Dick’s Encyclopedia of Practical Receipts and Processes, our ancestors had to work very hard in the domestic sphere. My children often claim (with good reason) that I seem to like the Roomba and the dishwasher more than them. It’s really that I appreciate how much work those esteemed appliances do for me, freeing up my time and energy to pursue more interesting tasks like writing blog posts (which is not something I can truthfully say about my children).

Her tone is light, but as I said, she does have the choice to go home to the comfort and support of her parents’ house. In her gentle way she sums up the cruelties acted upon the powerless servant class by saying “my jobs at various houses only served to convince me that human nature is not all it might be.” Her jobs are generally short term, but she does quit one job when a sleazy Butler tries to blackmail her.

The book is often funny as Monica Dickens points out the foibles of the personal lives of the people she meets. She makes even her most obnoxious employers amusing and shows the human side of the people below stairs.  ”I threw down my sodden dishcloth and went to gatecrash the most wonderful party that was being held in the kitchen. The Butler, a sporting old devil with white hair was taking advantage of his possession of the wine cellar key to celebrate his birthday in the best champagne and port that the house could offer. There he sat, jigging one the the parlourmaids on his knee.”

Unfortunately this is the only book by Monica Dickens that our library owns. She also wrote books about her other jobs as a nurse, One Pair Of Feet (1942,) and in a newspaper office, My Turn To Make The Tea (1951), and later went on to become a successful novelist and children’s book writer. One Pair of Hands will suit people interested in the upstairs/downstairs conflicts of Downton Abbey, but it will also be appreciated by readers of domestic humorists like Erma Bombeck.

Check the WRL catalog for One Pair of Hands.

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Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer

One of the most celebrated dancers of the 20^th century, Gene Kelly, was born in 1912 (one hundred years ago!). He is still revered among film and dance enthusiasts for his innovative work in film musicals, his charming personality on screen, and most of all, for his remarkable skill as a dancer.

WRL recently purchased Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer, part of the “American Masters” series. This nonfeature DVD is narrated by actor Stanley Tucci and gives terrific insight into Kelly’s career.

I enjoyed watching the film clips of Kelly in motion. The documentary spends a lot of time talking about his “common man” style of dancing. Where Fred Astaire may have made dancing look effortless, Kelly’s physical style showed the athleticism of dance.

I didn’t know that On the Town, the musical Kelly performed with Frank Sinatra, Vera-Ellen, Betty Garrett, and Ann Miller was the first musical to be shot on location (New York City, to be exact). It’s very common now, but apparently before Kelly and co-director Stanley Donen insisted, going on site to film a dance sequence wasn’t considered by studio moguls.

The show also had lots of tidbits about my favorite, Singin’ in the Rain. I didn’t know that Kelly had to change suits during the iconic rain sequence because the first one shrunk up after getting wet. And it never occurred to me that all that water pouring on his head would affect the ability of the neighborhoods surrounding the studio to water their lawns!

I was enchanted by the insights into his personal life. Kelly was a good athlete and apparently very competitive. He had to drop out of filming Easter Parade, a role he recommended that Fred Astaire fill, because he broke his ankle after stamping his foot in frustration over a volleyball game!

The DVD is only a little over an hour long. But there’s a lot of information and entertainment packed into the show.

Check the WRL catalog for Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer.

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Prince Rupert: The Last Cavalier, by Charles Spencer

I have been fascinated by the English Civil War ever since my youthful discovery of the historical fiction of John and Patricia Beatty.  The Beattys wrote several young adult titles set in the late Elizabethan period through the mid-18th century, and one of my favorites was Witch Dog (sadly, out of print now I think).  Witch Dog tells the story of Prince Rupert, commander of the Royalist cavalry (and sometimes the navy) during the English Civil War.  The novel centers around Rupert’s dog, Boye, reputed by Rupert’s Puritan foes to be an evil spirit and the source of his military prowess.  So when I was browsing the history section a few weeks ago and came across Charles Spencer’s biography of Rupert, I thought it was about time to refresh my knowledge of his exploits and perhaps learn a bit more.

Too often, biographies of historical characters become dull repetitions of dates and facts tied together with an occasional anecdote to remind the reader that we are talking about an actual human being.  Spencer, however, is anything but dull, and he does an excellent job of presenting both Rupert’s life and the broad stage on which it was played.  From my earlier reading, I knew some things about Rupert’s command of the Royalist cavalry — his early successes, his tendency towards headlong charges, and his later defeats at Naseby and Marston Moor.  But Spencer goes beyond just reciting dry facts and brings to life Rupert, his uncle, the unlucky Charles I, and a host of other characters.  The conflicts within the Royalist cause and Rupert’s place in those conflicts was fascinating and well-told.

What was most interesting to me, though sometimes quite sad, was the story of Rupert’s life before and after the Civil War.  His young exploits as a soldier in various European armies set him on the path to both success and failure in England.  Most touching were Rupert’s services to the Stuart family after the death of Charles I, and the seeming loss of the Royalists.  He served several hard years as a privateer captain, enduring miserable conditions, lack of support, and most terribly, the loss of his beloved brother Maurice, whose ship sank with all hands during a storm. Rupert’s later life following the restoration of the Stuarts saw him caught up in some of the same political infighting that proved so detrimental during the Civil War.  But there were pleasant times as well, and Spencer shows Rupert’s joy in scientific experimentation and his pleasure in hunting and riding.  He also makes the most of the scanty evidence at his disposal to illuminate Rupert’s social life.

For readers interested in English history, the military and political worlds of 17th c. Europe, or just a fascinating story of an intriguing man, Charles Spencer’s biography of Prince Rupert of the Rhine is sure to please.

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Exiles, by Ron Hansen

A discussion with a friend about the poetry of Thomas Hardy and Gerard Manley Hopkins brought to my attention Ron Hansen’s exploration of the intersection of spirituality and creativity, Exiles. Hansen’s book is a fictional memoir of both the noted Jesuit poet Hopkins who died in 1889 at the age of 55, and of five German nuns, who died along with a number of other emigrants when their ship the Deutschland was sunk off the English coast in 1875.

Hopkins had abandoned writing poetry after entering the Jesuits, but the foundering of the ship and in particular the death of the five nuns spurred him to resume writing, and the subsequent poem “The Wreck of the Deutschland” is one of Hopkins’s finest and most challenging pieces. The novel alternates between Hansen’s fictional account of Hopkins’s life as a Jesuit, which sticks close to the historical biography, and his telling of the lives of each of the five nuns, building in this case from a sparse historical record. In both instances, the reader comes to appreciate the sense of being outsiders that all of these characters felt. They were all truly exiles in one way or another.

Hansen writes about spiritual issues without ever becoming mawkish or saccharine. He has a gift for language as well, and the voices of the English and Irish Jesuits and the German nuns ring with equal verisimilitude. Hansen also has a deep understanding of and an obvious affection for Hopkins’s sometimes thorny poetry. The heart of the book is an examination of the challenge of choosing to go where you are called, whether this means leaving your place of birth for a new land, as with the nuns, or leaving your faith and family as Hopkins did in converting to Roman Catholicism. Readers who enjoy the nonfiction of writers such as Kathleen Norris (Cloister Walk) or Anne Lamott (Bird by Bird) might also enjoy Hansen’s richly spiritual fiction.

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The Last Pre-Raphaelite: Edward Burne-Jones and the Victorian Imagination, by Fiona MacCarthy

When Charlotte suggested to me that I might enjoy the book she had just blogged about, Tim Powers’s Hide Me Among the Graves, I was all the more ready to take up a fantasy/historical novel about the Rossettis and their circle having just finished Fiona McCarthy’s superb biography of Edward Burne-Jones.

I have long been a fan of the Pre-Raphaelite painters, particularly Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, and Edward Burne-Jones. McCarthy’s biography opened a window on the lives, loves, families, and friendships of these men and the other painters and poets who surrounded them. I enjoy reading about makers—those people whose creative drive impels them to make art or music. McCarthy does an excellent job of capturing the compulsion to draw and paint that was at the heart of Burne-Jones’s life.

There is sometimes a temptation to look at artists (of any sort, musicians, painters, composers, etc.) as living in some ethereal world outside the cares of daily life. What McCarthy does so well in this biography is to show how Burne-Jones’s art was centered in, and in many ways tied to, his personal life. The concerns of family, money, and relationships all had their effect on Burne-Jones’s artistic life. You really cannot separate out the mundane from the creative here, and ignoring one for the other leads to a lopsided perspective on his work.

Even if you are not familiar with or a particular fan of Pre-Raphaelite art works, you will find the characters here compelling. McCarthy has an obvious affection for the painters and poets about whom she writes. But at the same time, she does not hesitate to show them as fully human, gifted perhaps with an ability to see things in new and intriguing ways, but each having their own frailties and imperfections. In addition, McCarthy does an admirable job capturing the zeitgeist of the late-19th century in England. The book can serve equally well as a social history. The Last Pre-Raphaelite is truly the portrait of the artist as a complete man.

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Will in the World, by Stephen Greenblatt

Today’s blog is written by John from Circulation.

April, which was also “National Poetry Month,” had me thinking about my favorite poets. Of those I love, and there are many, my two personal giants are Homer and Shakespeare. Homer made an ancient world forever new with glorious words, even though he probably never knew how to read or write. Shakespeare dragged the world into a new way of thinking, even though he himself had little formal education and never attended university. His facility with words amazes me. Many scholars think most of us can get by on a vocabulary of about 9,000 words. Shakespeare’s vocabulary exceeded 28,000 words. Of course, that is because he seems to have felt quite at ease in inventing new words! April 23, 2012 marked Shakespeare’s 448 birthday. That such an eminent poet’s birthday occurs in the midst of “National Poetry Month” makes sense. That it is still cause for celebration is remarkable. Only a handful of writers are remembered centuries after they cease working. Perhaps that is because the work they produced while living never stops working in us. Shakespeare’s influence on literature is enormous. Characters he invented generate more speculation and analysis than many historical figures. His accomplishments are so remarkable that simply referring to him as “The Bard” is enough to identify who one means. Yet precious little is known about his life.

Stephen Greenblatt’s Will in the World sets out to change that. But it is an unusual “biography” because it narrates Shakespeare’s life through descriptions of the world he lived in and how the  poetry and characters he created reflected that world. Greenblatt is a noted Shakespearean scholar and professor of Humanities at Harvard, but this biography is anything but dry. It is a readable, lively, witty, and utterly engaging look at events we know happened in Shakespeare’s life and times—but always through the lens of what he wrote. Thus, Greenblatt makes some brilliant observations about Shakespeare’s marriage based almost completely on the marriages we see in his plays. Along the way, as Greenblatt progresses play by play, we enjoy similar observations on humor, last wills, witchcraft, property, ambition, depression, joy, in short a whole world wholly created by a master craftsman.

Although it’s not his primary objective, Greenblatt ends up making a compelling argument for Shakespeare as the sole author of the plays. Great art, he argues, although it can be influenced by learning and discipline, sometimes simply appears out of truly gifted individuals with the talent, desire and opportunity to present it. By showing how Shakespeare keenly observed the world in which he lived and worked, Greenblatt presents a new dimension to Shakespeare’s genius. That world, in turn, influenced Shakespeare’s art, craft, and stagecraft. Those cross connections demonstrate just how Shakespeare evolved into a great playwright. Like all great writers, he wrote about what he knew and because he had lived it, it rang true.

Although Greenblatt bases many observations and conclusions on deduction and supposition, he also draws intelligent and accurate conclusions about Shakespeare.  At times he speculates (mostly hitting the mark but not always convincingly) on how Shakespeare used the world that formed him to, in turn, form his great works. Greenblatt also explains some popular Latin works which Shakespeare often used including some basic plot elements. This is not unlike the Greek playwrights of their era, who relied so heavily on Homer and the myths for their source material. With Shakespeare, the two greatest sources for much of his work, in addition to the Holinshed Chronicles for historical facts, were mythology and the Bible.

Like historians, biographers draw conclusions from evidence informed by the bias of their time. This is true of Greenblatt’s work. Nevertheless, he makes many significant observations and his insights into Will’s world will leave you thinking about the plays and sonnets in a whole new way. Ultimately, that’s the value of a cultural and historical biography like Greenblatt’s. While many of the details of Shakespeare’s life are sketchy, fortunately we have his great plays, even though they have been through many hands and editors over the years. These masterworks continue to resonate with great insights about human nature. Greenblatt’s book will reshape your thinking about the genius behind  Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, and The Tempest. Of course, there will be times you’ll find yourself in total disagreement with him. But that’s the draw of a great biography—to create an atmosphere where discussion adds new fuel to the fire of interpretation and insight.

Check the WRL catalog for Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare

Or try this book on audio CD

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Valentina: American Couture and the Cult of Celebrity, by Kohle Yohannon

Bud continues BFGB Fashion Week with this review: 

From the 1920s through the 1950s, Valentina Schlee was one of the most famous and successful fashion designers in the world. Valentina: American Couture and the Cult of Celebrity, by Kohle Yohannan, details the life and career of this now forgotten woman in a fine book that’s an interesting amalgam of fashion history and gossipy biography.

Born in Russia in 1899, Valentina’s early years are rather mysterious. Throughout her life, she told conflicting tales about herself in order to engender an aura of mystery, but by 1919 she was working as an actress in a theatre in the Crimea. It was here that she met George Schlee, the man who would be her lifelong companion and business partner.  Fleeing Soviet Russia, the Schlees emigrated to the U.S. and in 1928, she opened Valentina Gowns, Inc. on Madison Avenue in New York City. Immediately successful, the business was financially profitable right up till the salon closed in 1957.

From the start, Valentina fashions targeted the upper echelons of society. No crass, ready-made for her. It was café society, Broadway, and motion picture actresses and the glitterati only. Within a few years she only designed for clients she approved of, cavalierly dismissing all others with the simple phrase, “I’m afraid my gowns would not please you, Madame.”

How did a dress designer achieve this kind of clout?

Primarily by being an expert at self-promotion and as much a celebrity as the movie stars and socialites for whom she designed. She created a public persona that was exotic, mysterious, imperious, and intriguing. A globe-trotting sybarite, she socialized with the right people, went to the right clubs, and routinely dropped colorful quotes. Her innate sense of glamour, style, and drama drew publicity, making her a favorite of the gossip columnists and fashion pages. She further cultivated her image by being the primary model for her design line in advertising layouts.

Of course, the clothes themselves also played a role in her success. Valentina’s couture emphasized clean, simple lines and had a timeless quality. They were chic, void of elaborate embellishments, and always comfortable to wear. She despised fashion trends and did not follow them. Her inspirations were often drawn from classical Greek gowns, nun’s habits, and simple peasant styles. She was skilled at using bias cuts to achieve lovely draping effects. Each outfit was designed specifically for the individual client to suit their particular figure, coloring, and lifestyle, minimizing flaws and emphasizing their best features. Examples of her fashions are found throughout the book, which has many large, lovely photos.

Even if you have no real interest in couture, this book is still worth perusing for the many colorful anecdotes about Valentina’s uber-sophisticated private life, including details of  the long term ménage a trois she and George were rumored to have engaged in with actress Greta Garbo.

Author Kohle Yohannan, an art and design historian, has done a wonderful job in resurrecting a forgotten fashion diva. His book will be enjoyed by anyone interested in 20th century social history, fashio, or stories of remarkable women.

Check the WRL catalog for Valentina.

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Gowns by Adrian, by Howard Gutner, and Adrian: Silver Screen to Custom Label, by Christian Esquevin

Welcome to BFGB Fashion Week! Our weeklong tribute to books for the best-dressed comes to you courtesy of Bud, our resident red-carpet critic.

To me, costume design for the movies reached its apex in the 1930s. Hollywood’s golden age of filmmaking was considerably burnished by the talents of such designers as Travis Banton, Dolly Tree, Orry-Kelly, and Edith Head.

One of the best known and most talented costume designers was Gilbert Adrian. Better known simply as Adrian, his famous film credit line, “Gowns by Adrian,” is always a welcome sight for fashionistas lusting after gloriously glamorous and outrageously outré costumes. Mata Hari, Grand Hotel, Dinner at Eight, The Women, and Marie Antoinette are just a few of the films that he worked on.

Gowns by Adrian: the MGM Years 1928-1941, by Howard Gutner, covers Adrian’s 13-year reign as head costume designer for MGM studios. It’s packed with glossy photos (only a few in color, unfortunately) and interesting behind-the-scene stories of the many movies that Adrian worked on and the stars he worked with. Special emphasis is given to three of the best-known actresses whose on-screen images he meticulously embellished. Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, and Norma Shearer each get a chapter of their own, but Adrian’s early movies and the wonderful spectacle films, like Madam Satan, where his imagination really ran wild, are not slighted.

Adrian retired from MGM studios in 1941 and opened his own couture house in Beverly Hills. This period of his career is covered in Adrian: Silver Screen to Custom Label, by Christian Esquevin.

The book explains Adrian’s design aesthetic and provides detailed descriptions and photographs of his couture collections from 1942 until his untimely death at the age of 56 in 1959. Also detailed are his early years at MGM, his personal life, including his marriage to actress Janet Gaynor, and the lasting influence that he has had on American style and fashion.

Both books provide lovely tributes to a uniquely talented American designer. If you like movies and/or couture you’ll enjoy them both.

Check the WRL catalog for Gowns by Adrian: the MGM Years 1928-1941. 

Check the WRL catalog for Adrian: Silver Screen to Custom Label.

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Feynman, by Jim Ottaviani and Leland Myrick

The late physicist and free spirit Richard Feynman has been depicted again and again in books: his own disjointed but charming memoirs collected in Classic Feynman: All the Adventures of a Curious Character; James Gleick’s fine biography Genius: the Life and Science of Richard Feynman, or the more scientifically focused Quantum Man: Richard Feynman’s Life in Science by Lawrence M. Krauss to name a few. Feynman’s quirky way of thinking, his enthusiastic cheerleading for the value of science, his gifts for explaining complicated subjects to laypeople, and his sometimes bizarre personal behavior all make him a subject for the ages.

There’s always room for one more good book about a person this complex, as writer Jim Ottaviani and artist Leland Myrick demonstrate in their new graphic biography, Feynman. It’s actually very fitting that Feynman should get the graphic treatment: one of his great achievements in science was to find new visual ways to depict equations, and he always claimed to see equations with a kind of synesthesia, visualizing them swirling around him with different parts in different colors. The artist here does this legacy fine justice, with different background colors making the book into a slowly progressing rainbow and Feynman himself drawn with wiry, jaunty, approachable grace.

Feynman fascinates. He was one of the leading scientists of the twentieth century, a man closely involved with important events like the Manhattan Project and the investigation of the first space shuttle explosion, but at the same time was famous for quixotic quests like playing instruments at Carnival in Rio, trying unsuccessfully to visit a little known region of Russia, or appearing in court to defend the topless bar where he liked to sit and think. Ottaviani does a fine job here of balancing Feynman’s scientific importance with all the qualities that made the man unusual and sometimes difficult.

Nearly a quarter of a century after his death, Feynman continues to captivate us, perhaps for the pure light of his genius, perhaps because he’s difficult to pin down, or perhaps because there’s something in his legacy to capture almost anyone’s imagination. This new book is perhaps the easiest entry point I’ve seen yet for your own pursuit of a truly curious character.

Check the WRL catalog for Feynman

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The Brothers Bulger, by Howie Carr

This week’s posts are from WRL Development Officer, Benjamin Goldberg.

This dual fraternal biography reads like a novel. Carr’s book traces the rise of James “Whitey” Bulger and his brother William “Billy” Bulger from poverty to power and their subsequent fall. Given the violence, corruption, and general despicable activities of the Bulger brothers, it really would have been nice if the book actually were a novel. Nevertheless, Carr’s style and research make this book a quick and interesting read.

The Bulger brothers, the eldest sons of an Irish Catholic couple, were born in South Boston. To them there were only two ways out, crime or public employment. Whitey went the former route, Billy the latter. Neither let integrity, ethics or law stand in the way of their success.

Whitey started as a small-time hood and became a big-time gangster through calculated manipulations, FBI and police corruption, and brutal murders. Carr makes the case that his rise in the criminal world was made possible in large part because of help from the FBI. In the 1970s Whitey started feeding information about the Mafia in Boston to FBI agent and fellow South Boston native, John Connolly. Connolly both protected Whitey and kept him informed about police investigations. Whitey systematically dismantled his competition by putting them in jail or killing them, while he filled the void with his own brand of criminality. He bragged that he gave the FBI useless information and they allowed him to get away with murder. Among Whitey’s less violent, more outrageous exploits was his 1991 “winning” of a $14 million Massachusetts lottery drawing. When he was indicted in 1995, the charges included racketeering, extortion, drug trafficking, and 19 murders. Warned prior to the issuing of the indictment, Whitey vanished.

In comparison to his brother, Billy Bugler’s activities seem almost benign. Over 25 years, Billy Bulger used his South Boston constituency to rise in the state legislature, becoming so powerful as House President that he could pass or block nearly any piece of legislation. He lined his pockets and those of friends through high paying non-existent jobs, nepotism, and graft. It is a little alarming to read how many politicians worked with or against Billy Bugler, while they were still in state politics. Michael Dukakis, John Kerry, and Mitt Romney all had dealings with House President Bulger.

The brothers used each other’s positions, influence, and power to help one another during their respective reigns. Carr includes an anecdote of Whitey intimidating Billy’s political opponents. Likewise, there are stories of Billy using his connections to protect and benefit Whitey.

Finally unable to shake corruption charges, Billy Bulger was deposed from his positions as House President and UMASS president in the mid-1990s. In June, 2011, James “Whitey” Bulger was apprehended after sixteen years in hiding. The Brothers Bulger is well-written and researched. If you are interested in the dirty side of politics, crime, corruption, or Boston, you might want to read this book.

Check the WRL catalog for The Brothers Bulger

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Angelina: An Unauthorized Biography, by Andrew Morton

This week’s posts are from WRL Development Officer, Benjamin Goldberg.

This biography of Angelina Jolie is a pager turner (or in this case a CD spinner). Read by Bronson Pinchot, it is both satisfying to listen to and engaging. The daughter of Jon Voight, Jolie became a household name when she played the live-action version of the sexy, savvy Tomb Raider Lara Croft. With the role, Jolie arrived as one of the top paid actresses in Hollywood. In this thoroughly researched and well-written book, Andrew Morton documents her rise to international fame, concurrently revealing her less noted darker side and her oft touted humanitarianism. It’s a captivating story, especially when you consider she is not yet 40 years old.

Morton begins his story with brief biographies of her parents, Voight and Marcia Lynne. He describes a less than ideal childhood of neglect, irresponsibility, loneliness and rebellion. Jolie was a wild child in the truest sense. Morton depicts drug use, dysfunctional behavior, and sexual exploration that began in her early teen years and continues, to some extent, into adulthood. Despite a tendency toward self-loathing, Jolie is driven to excel at whatever she sets her mind to accomplish. As a teen she entered the world of modeling. She used her striking beauty to transition into music videos and then acting.

Without distracting from the main story, Morton weaves his subject’s dedication to her mother and estrangement from father into the ongoing Jolie story. Jolie’s mother not only vilified Voight, she also lived vicariously through her daughter’s successes. Morton analyzes Jolie’s well-documented collection of tattoos and knives, but also discusses her vices of cutting and heroin. Morton paints an image of a self-interested woman who is attracted to danger. She prefers adventure to calm and can be fickle in her choices of spouses (she has married and divorced twice), lovers, and friends.

The author also posits that as Jolie has gotten older, she has expanded her ability to care for the plight of others. It is in this sphere that Jolie became United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Goodwill Ambassador and has dedicated much of her time and money to philanthropic endeavors. A turning point in her life seemed to come in 2004, when she filmed “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” with Brad Pitt. The two actors started a relationship that continues to make headlines around the world, as well as a family of three birth children and three adopted children.

I fully anticipate that the “Angelina Jolie Story” will be made into a movie someday. Her life, to date, is the stuff of fairytales and horror stories. Morton’s biography of Jolie sheds light on one of today’s most successful actresses in a moving and persuasive way. It you enjoy biographies about famous people, read or listen to Angelina.

Check the WRL catalog for Angelina

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Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century. Volume 1, 1907-1948, Learning Curve, by William H. Patterson, Jr.

This book was perhaps an odd choice for me, because I’m not nearly the devotee of Robert Heinlein as most fans of classic science fiction and fantasy. I’ve enjoyed some of his books, such as The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Have Space Suit–Will Travel, but others such as the  much-hyped Stranger in a Strange Land have left me a little cold. I know I’m in the minority there: Heinlein is still one of our best circulating science fiction authors at the library, many years after his death.

Still, Heinlein himself always struck me as a fascinating person. I don’t agree with his libertarian politics, but I find the major political swing he took at midlife fascinating. He had two very different marriages and some very interesting views about how relationships should be conducted that he wrote about frequently in his fiction. Heinlein is hard to pin down, and he lived through fascinating times, so when I saw this official biography, I had to give it a try. I’m glad I did.

Patterson has a no-nonsense style. He doesn’t psychoanalyze his subject, he doesn’t put him on a pedestal, he simply tells the events of Heinlein’s life, and leaves it for the reader to draw conclusions. And what events! Heinlein attended the U.S. Naval Academy, left the Navy after a bout with tuberculosis, became a player in California politics, practiced nudism and open marriage, worked with Isaac Asimov and others as an engineer during WWII, traveled the country widely, and was an important player in science fiction both back in the days when pulp magazine stories dominated the field and during the transition to the more contemporary novel-focused market.

While readers, particularly science fiction fans, will probably love this biography, others should consider it too. As the subtitle says, Heinlein lived a life in dialogue with the century, and was there for many important events from the 1930s until the 1970s. If you like modern American history, you’ll find this fascinating stuff, whether or not you like SF. Heinlein’s story is a truly American story, a life that coincides with many trends our nation has experienced.

One very small quibble: sometimes Patterson is so good at cataloging the events of Heinlein’s life and so unlikely to judge that you may wish he would speculate about the why of things a little more often. Sometimes it seems as though some fascinating details, some really good stories, lie just beneath the surface. I finished the biography still wondering about the quality of Heinlein’s character, but it definitely made me think, and that’s not a bad thing.

I’m looking forward to the second volume of this definitive life, because our boy Bob definitely went through some strange changes, and I can’t wait to see what the second half of his life had to offer.

Check the WRL catalog for Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century Volume 1

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