While perusing page six of the NY Post this morning I came upon a new social identifier: JuBu, short for Jewish Buddhist. What a world we live in.
One of the great things about selling books on the street is meeting other writers. Last week one gave me a copy of his latest work. I finished it this morning. It’s available in print and will probably be in Kindle shortly. Here’s my review. I won’t post it elsewhere until he corrects the many little errors I found:
Having enjoyed You Should’ve Heard What I Seen, Bill Brown’s collection of essays and reviews on the music scene of the early ‘80s, I looked forward to Words and Guitar: A History of Lou Reed's Music. I was not disappointed. Brown again takes a scholarly approach, eminently readable, to his subject. He is an admirer of Reed, but this is not a gushing love letter to a deceased rock star. It is objective analysis of an artist’s catalog. He renders an opinion, often in depth, on songs he believes rise to greatness, those that fail miserably and those that are forgettable. It is obvious that he has listened repeatedly and thought carefully about the tracks. In 110 pages he covers Reed’s entire canon, which no doubt will grow after posthumous releases. Although I like several of Reed’s songs, I wouldn’t classify myself as a big fan. The book introduced me to many obscure compositions and inspired several trips to youtube. Leftists will likely be pleased not only by a natural attraction to the themes of many of the songs but also to the occasional excoriating of Republicans along the way. The author frequently refers to Reed as Lou, which manifests the kinship he feels to the artist. I don’t know if that’s appropriate in such a work, but it is understandable. Anyone who takes Reed’s work seriously will find the book valuable, as long as they haven't placed Reed on the pedestal of “Can do no wrong.” I disagree with some of Brown’s assessments, but I would hesitate to argue with him because he has studied the material a lot more closely than I have, and his knowledge of music dwarfs mine.
Adjustments is now available as a Kindle book, $1. Check it out here: http://www.amazon.com/Adjustments-vic-fortezza-ebook/dp/B00HGTIHNK/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1387826351&sr=1-1&keywords=adjustments+vic+fortezza
The floating book shop was rained out today. I did the things I was going to do tomorrow, wrapping gifts, and burning CDs for sale on the street. I'm leery about opening up shop on Christmas Eve, but dinner isn't until eight PM, and I don't want to just sit around waiting.
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Horror Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
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