THE new Ian McEwan novel, Solar, has just been reviewed in the New York Times, where Michiko Kakutani calls it both his funniest novel yet -- similar to the satire of David Lodge -- and a failure at the level of plot.It makes me recall (chin-stroking music, please) the time I spent by with the shy and gracious British author in front of a fire at New York's Gramercy Hotel one drizzly spring day. … [Read more...]
Archives for March 2010
The Return of LA Noir
ONE of LA's greatest exports has always been dread, and our signature writer is still, three quarters of a century later, noir novelist Raymond Chandler. And now, thanks to a new anthology, all that murder, deception and unpleasantness is back.A few years back, local mystery writer Denise Hamilton (The Last Embrace) and Brooklyn's Akashic Books put together a collection called Los Angeles Noir … [Read more...]
Philip K. Dick, Consolidated
THE great, idiosyncratic writer, whose esteem has surged in recent decades, died 28 years ago this month.HERE is the new link on Hero Complex that gets you to all six parts of my look at the author's decade in Orange County.My series considered Dick's life and work, and tried to get at what kind of impact a conservative suburban region would have on a man who had spent most of his life in Bay Area … [Read more...]
Taxi Driver It Is
THOUGH I am a Raging Bull man myself, happy to see Taxi Driver take the win in my Favorite Scorsese Film poll.At least one voter was frustrated he could not vote for The Last Waltz, the director's swan song for The Band and a whole generation of rock, blues and folk musicians. I love that film as well -- in fact the complaining voter took me to see it when I was 10 years old at the Brattle theater … [Read more...]
Saving SoCal’s Libraries
THIS blog is dedicated, of course, to West Coast culture, from classical music to science fiction, and I tend to stay away from politics here. But an issue crucial to the survival and access to West Coast culture is breaking now: the closing of libraries and especially school libraries in Southern California. This has been brought about by the recession and bad political judgement.Pasadena Unified … [Read more...]
The Sound of Southern California: The Radar Brothers
AMONG Los Angeles' most intriguing -- and quietest -- bands are The Radar Brothers, an Eastside group dedicated to a blend of mellowness and tension. They were once associated with fellow "slowcore" or "psychedelic depression" bands Acetone and Spain.The Bros.' new album, The Illustrated Garden, comes out on Merge next week. (I especially like the song "For the Birds.") They're currently in … [Read more...]
California Poetry and Robinson Jeffers
WHEN I put together a blog poll on Best California Poet, I was certain Charles Bukowski was going to barge in, whiskey bottle in hand, and run away with it.So I’m pleased to report that a far more significant poet ended up winning – and by a landslide. Take a bow, Robinson Jeffers!! He not only presided over the best turned-out vote in the history of The Misread City, he won by nearly as large a … [Read more...]
The Many Moods of Keith Jarrett
As a longtime fan of idiosyncratic jazz pianist Keith Jarrett, I would have been disappointed if I'd seen him perform without reaming out at least one audience member. And I was not disappointed.Last night Jarrett made one of his rare appearances at LA's Disney Hall, and this show was devoted to solo improvisation -- pure Keith, unalloyed. He began the performance with a strange, gentle kind of … [Read more...]
The Return of The Blue Moods of Spain
How often you arrive at a club and kick yourself for having missed the opening band? Not bloody often I'll bet. But when I got to Spaceland on Saturday to find I'd arrived too late to see a rare (and barely announced) show by LA indie kings Spain, my heart sunk into the kind of melancholy the group conjures so well in song.Spain, which is led by Josh Haden (son of legendary jazz bassist Charlie … [Read more...]
Twyla Tharp and Sinatra
Legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp is back in the news for her upcoming show on the songs of Frank Sinatra. This strikes me as at least one step up from, say, Billy Joel, whose work she adapted in 2002. (We here at The Misread City really dig Capitol-era Sinatra, despite his audacity at not growing up on the West Coast.)A few years back I spent some time with Tharp as she led a group of USC arts … [Read more...]