Need For reads

Fiction Music had become a political instrument A SYMPHONY OF RIVALS By Roma Calatayud-Stocks 414 pp. Calumet Editions Reviewed by Alan Goodman A Symphony Of Rivals is the second book in a planned trilogy by Calatayud-Stocks. In this story the protagonist, Alejandra Morrison, a young lady possessing an exceptional musical gift as a concert pianist, seeks an opportunity to make a name as a major orchestral conductor in what is traditionally a man’s domain. The story moves between Minneapolis, the home town of Ms. Morrison, and her medical doctor husband, Richard, to 1933 Berlin, a city experiencing the ominous political currents inspired by the rise of the Nazi party. The story begins in Berlin with Alejandra and Richard riding through the streets of Berlin, and then in their hotel, the famed Adelon in Pariser Platz. The Nazi presence, crude, ruse and unsettling, makes itself known almost immediately with an encounter in the hotel bar. A loud disturbance drew her attention....

--> Fiction Murder and sins of the flesh BABYLON BERLIN By Volkner Kutscher Translated from the German by Niall Sellar 423 pp. Picador Reviewed by Alan Goodman I like this book as much for the style of writing (even in translation, not an easy accomplishment) as for the development of the story and characters. This is a story that keeps you turning pages until you run out of pages, at which time you wonder how you’ll find another book that will keep you similarly engaged. Volkner Kutscher, the author, is a man who has apparently not bothered with the apocryphal shortest book in the world, “A History of German Humor.” Amidst the grimness of creating entertainment from the cruelest human activity one might imagine, Mr. Volkner manages to reveal a sense of humor – if not always for the characters themselves, then in a quite subtle manner for the march of human activity in general. Here is one such moment describing a pornography bust by the Berlin Vice Squad: The man was faintly r...

The IRB's Celebrating 10 Years of Intelligent Reviews October 2007-October 2017  Fiction An easy chair and a martini LET THE DEVIL OUT By Bill Loehfelm 302 pp. Picador Reviewed by Alan Goodman   The longstanding attraction of detective mysteries speaks to the easy read. If you're looking for a book to accompany you to your favorite easy chair, a nicely turned martini, and that rare evening that promises quietude, nothing beats cozying up to Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot or Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch. Always on the prowl for a new detective, a new crime, and new characters of dubious moral persuasion, this reviewer jumped at the chance to accompany Bill Loehfelm's Maureen Coughlin through the dark alleys of New Orleans. Rookie police officer Maureen Coughlin and I are actually old buddies. That shadow you saw transfixed to her every motive and move in Loehfelm’s previous book, Doing The Devil's Work , was none other t...

Fiction The stratosphere of Tibet SKELETON GOD: An Inspector Shan Tao Yun Mystery By Eliot Pattison 305 pp. Minotaur Books Reviewed by Alan Goodman This is Edgar Award winner Eliot Pattison’s ninth installment in the Inspector Shan series. The world of Inspector Shan moves along quite slowly as murder mysteries go, particularly in the opening sections. Pattison is a deliberate writer, apparently intent upon setting the detailed backdrop of Tibetan culture as much as he is on drawing the scene of the obligatory opening murder itself. I mention this because while popular mystery writers such as Michael Connelly, with his detective hero Harry Bosch, rush you along with staccato-like narrative, Inspector Shan moves at a much more leisurely pace. Maybe because I had just finished the Harry Bosch series, it took some time to get down to the new speed limit. The reward for making this adjustment was to be introduced to a world that one knows mostly from myth – the stratosphere of worlds – the...

Nonfiction
 Se eking perfection LOST SECRETS OF MASTER MUSICIANS
 A Window Into Genius 
 By David Jacobson
 449 pp. SFIM Books Reviewed by Alan Goodman This is a most curious book. Indeed, the author, David Jacobson, is the founder and the director of a music school, the San Francisco Institute of Music. His life, as described in some careful detail, has been spent in a vigorous and determined pursuit of violin perfection. The ultimate goal? Becoming a soloist, playing like past masters such as Heifetz, Millstein and Horowitz.  Mr. Jacobson, a man who has obviously given thorough consideration for the several basic disciplines of music, appears to hold much of the current state of music in various degrees of contempt.  The writing is clear, straightforward, and engaging. The book presents unvarnished opinion on the subject of classical music – the state of performance, pedagogy, the role of soloists, orchestral playing, auditioning, the necessity for conductors, technical thou...

Nonfiction But listen to his music I AM BRIAN WILSON: A Memoir By Brian Wilson with Ben Greenman 307 pp. Da Capo  Reviewed by Alan Goodman Brian Wilson has few peers as a prolific and influential Rock And Roll songwriter. As the front man and driving creative inspiration for the Beach Boys he is responsible – in total or partially – for such R & R musical icons as “California Girls,” “Fun, Fun, Fun,” “I Get Around,” “Surfin’,” “Surfin’ Safari,” “Surfin’ USA,” and “Surfer Girl.”   In 1988, Wilson and the Beach Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2000 he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. And in 2007 he was honored by the Kennedy Center for a lifetime contribution to the performing arts. A biopic film about his life won several wards at the Toronto Film Festival in 2014. All in all, not too shabby a track record for any ten musicians, let alone one single person. And yet, Brian Wilson is revealed in I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir , as barely ...