What are you currently reading?

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

Espero, by Robert Gyemant ... who happens to be my next door neighbor.

It's about a ("Guinea") boy taken from Africa by Spanish slavers, sold to a Jewish woman who gives him to her brother, a doctor. The doctor treats Espero as his son until he is betrayed to the Inquisition -- this takes place about the time of the death of Fernando of "Ferdinand and Isabella" fame -- spends years back in chains, and (about halfway through the book) is now in Florida, valuable to the Spaniards running the expedition because he happened to learn the local language years ago. It's interesting, but there's a certain amount of infodump of the "I did all this research and now you get the benefit of it" variety.

[interbellum]

I'll begin reading Scott Meze's "On Track ... Soft Machine : Every Album, Every Song" (published end 2023). It includes all relevant project with "Soft" in the bandname, so there are also chapters on Ware, Works, Heap, Head etc. Quite a job to write about all those albums and line-ups in 160 pages.

[wideopenears]

That sounds pretty great, I should get a copy.

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

I've just started rereading Dangerous Visions -- I want to get through it and Again, Dangerous Visions by the time the (crippled) Last Dangerous Visions is released on October 1. I may not make it, I waited too long, these are long books.

[Geoff O'Donoghue]

and am now on something lighter: Meddling Kids, by Edgar Cantero. Back in the '70s, four kids and a dog solved a bunch of mysteries in Blyton Hills, CA (on the Zoinx River, no less). Now, in the 90s, one is dead; the other three and a new dog have to go back to Blyton Hills and face the one mystery they backed off from back in the day. Funny and horrifying by turns.

This sounded like it would be right up my alley - and it is! Currently halfway through it and I've reserved two other Cantero books at the library. Thanks counselor!

[Sunlight Caller]

I've just started rereading Dangerous Visions -- I want to get through it and Again, Dangerous Visions by the time the (crippled) Last Dangerous Visions is released on October 1. I may not make it, I waited too long, these are long books.

I recently came across my paperback copies of the first two collections, dating back to the 70’s. Five books and one hell of a lot of reading. I too would like to revisit them but I don’t think that I have the time either.

[interbellum]

I started reading in a Dutch translation of Werner Herzog's Das Dämmern Der Welt (2022) - (English title The Twilight World). The book was mentioned in an article in a newspaper recently and was described as the story of a Japanese soldier who didn't know the war was over. Sounds familiair? Yeah, it's also the story Camel used for Nude.

Here's a short clip in which Herzog introduces the short novel:

[interbellum]

^^Herzog actually met the Japanese soldier Hiroo Onoda. The book begins and ends with this meeting. The two had something in common: they both had a long history in surviving in the jungle. Onoda during is post-war on the island, Herzog while making the movie Fitzcarraldo.

[interbellum]

Just started a book about a band, which wasn't in my collection: The Legendary Pink Dots. I knew the band though and must have heard some of their music (my brother has one CD), while I visited a show of frontman Edward Ka-Spel in 1985 in a small club in the East of The Netherlands (in the city Delden). But when I recently saw a beautiful looking book in the American Bookstore in Amsterdam, called Close Your Eyes, You Can Be A Space Captain, written by writer (for publications such as Record Collector Magazine) and musician Freek Kinkelaar, which included a compilation-CD with tracks selected by the band-members themself, I had to buy it. And it's nice to read this part of the history of this cult-band (the book only tells the story from the 80s).
Review: https://www.soleilmoon.com/shop/free...-in-the-1980s/

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

Made it through Dangerous Visions yestiddy and began Again DV this morning with breakfast. I must might get through this before Last arrives on my doorstep on (theoretically) October 1...

[SteveSly]

The True Tale Of Mista Bone: A Rock N Roll Narrative by Jack Russell & KL Doty:

I have mixed feelings on this one. I am a pretty big fan of the band Great White and always thought they were a step above most of their peers in the 80’s and 90’s. Jack was one of the great singers of his era with a storied past full of substance abuse, triumph, and tragedy. The book was co-written with KL Doty who is obviously a fan of Jack, so the book is slanted in a positive manner. The book was a very quick read. I would have liked it to go into more detail with certain things, but is pretty much a bare bones synopsis of Jack’s life. The last 3rd of the book are interviews with other musicians, producers and friends who knew Jack (some a lot better than others). The interviews were interesting, but seemed like padding in order to make the book longer. The book itself is not all that professionally written either with grammatical errors that could have been edited. Overall, I enjoyed the book, but it was not as comprehensive as I had hoped it would be. The fact that Jack passed away just weeks after the book was published makes some of the stories even more poignant. It would be interesting to get a book from Mark Kendall to hear his side of the story.

3 out of 5 Stars

[interbellum]

Just started a reread of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which I've not read in 30 years, in preparation to read James, which retells the story from Jim's point of view.

I guess James was the book written by Percival Everett. In the same way Orwell's 1984 was re-written by Sandra Newman in her book Julia (2023) telling the original story of Winston Smith from the viewpoint of his girlfriend Julia. I'm planning to read this book soon (and re-read 1984 after that).

Started reading in Sandra Newman's feminist view on 1984, called Julia.

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

This is actually becoming a trope. I've seen a book that tells Pride and Prejudice from Mr Darcy's point of view. I didn't buy it at the time, and haven't seen it since; long forgotten the title and author.

Can't forget Grendel, an old favorite, as is Wicked -- though for very different reasons.

And then, of course, there's the suppressed De Wind Done Gone...

[MudShark22]

^^ would you say Orson Scott Card has also done the same thing in the "enderverse", especially with the Shadow series...

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[hippypants]

I wondered if anyone has picked up the Moon Zappa book, Earth to Moon, and had any thoughts on it. There are a few interviews with her on YT, I'll post one. It sounds like their family was pretty dysfunctional for many reasons although Moon seems pretty well adjusted given the situation. I also wondered why she and her siblings rarely refer to Gail or Frank as mom and dad, mother and father, etc. I think I've only heard Dweezil refer to Frank as 'dad' once in all the interviews I've seen. Maybe this has been discussed elsewhere, if so you can direct me to a link.

[rapidfirerob]

I haven’t read her book. It’s common for children of rock stars to refer to their parents by their first name when discussing them publicly. Maybe it’s more comfortable to do so. Galadrielle Allman refers to her late father as Duane in this context.


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[Duncan Glenday]

I just resumed the "Robert Galbraith" Strike series - busy with The Ink Black Heart.

Very different, and quite fun, and recalls vague memories of when our chatroom was active and argumentative.

[SteveSly]

Gerald R Ford: An Honorable Life by James Cannon: I live 45 minutes from Grand Rapids Michigan, where Ford grew up and served in congress, so he is very well-known in my part of the world. Like the man, this is a good, albeit rather dry account, of his life growing up to eventually becoming president. Cannon worked for Ford during his administration so had close access to both the president and his family. The book is a bit biased in a positive light towards Ford, but covers most of the major events of his term in office including his pardon of Richard Nixon which was probably the main reason Ford did not get re-elected. Also covered is Ford’s rise through congress, pull out from Viet Nam, Mayaguez incident, his Whip Inflation Now program, the rise of Ronald Regan and the conservative branch of the GOP, the assassination of Anwar Sadat and many other topics. The personal lives of Gerald, Betty and their kids is also discussed. Overall, this was a well-written informative book, but it did move a little slow and was sometimes a bit of a slog to get through.

3 out of 5 stars

[JKL2000]

I wondered if anyone has picked up the Moon Zappa book, Earth to Moon, and had any thoughts on it. There are a few interviews with her on YT, I'll post one. It sounds like their family was pretty dysfunctional for many reasons although Moon seems pretty well adjusted given the situation. I also wondered why she and her siblings rarely refer to Gail or Frank as mom and dad, mother and father, etc. I think I've only heard Dweezil refer to Frank as 'dad' once in all the interviews I've seen. Maybe this has been discussed elsewhere, if so you can direct me to a link.

I’ve been listening to this audiobook, read by Moon. Pretty interesting, especially from my own viewpoint - father traveling for work in the 70’s, parents divorced early, etc. It makes me reflect on my own family and childhood and my family now. I know they’re in California, but NYC was also an unusual place to grow up.

So far, I recommend the book. (Oh, at my high school we called our teachers by their first names.)

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

My copy of The Last Dangerous Visions arrived yesterday. It will probably take me at least a week to read...

[Lopez]

Bill Bruford - The Autobiography

[SteveSly]

Bill Bruford - The Autobiography

That was a great book. Been a while since I read it, but really enjoyed it.

[veteranof1000psychicwars]

I wondered if anyone has picked up the Moon Zappa book, Earth to Moon, and had any thoughts on it. There are a few interviews with her on YT, I'll post one. It sounds like their family was pretty dysfunctional for many reasons although Moon seems pretty well adjusted given the situation. I also wondered why she and her siblings rarely refer to Gail or Frank as mom and dad, mother and father, etc. I think I've only heard Dweezil refer to Frank as 'dad' once in all the interviews I've seen. Maybe this has been discussed elsewhere, if so you can direct me to a link.

I listened to her read it on Spotify. Pretty harrowing stuff as far as Gail is concerned, although sympathetic at times. Her relationship with Frank is complicated at best though she clearly idolized him. The entire family situation is almost unfathomably sad. I am glad l listened to it but l wouldn't go through it again.

[veteranof1000psychicwars]

I haven’t read her book. It’s common for children of rock stars to refer to their parents by their first name when discussing them publicly. Maybe it’s more comfortable to do so. Galadrielle Allman refers to her late father as Duane in this context.


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I believe it was common in the Zappa household for the children to address their parents by their first names. It isn't a literary construct.

[veteranof1000psychicwars]

^^Herzog actually met the Japanese soldier Hiroo Onoda. The book begins and ends with this meeting. The two had something in common: they both had a long history in surviving in the jungle. Onoda during is post-war on the island, Herzog while making the movie Fitzcarraldo.

I have Onoda's autobiography somewhere, it is an incredible story, especially told from his point of view. I read in a couple of places recently that Onoda returned to live in the wild because he couldn't cope with modern society. This is not true.
I also found out a couple of years ago that Onoda is "nude" in Japanese. Duh on me.