1nce more in2 the past! (books)

Mainly 4 housekeeping purposes, here's that list of books I reviewed at my old website B4 it died. Hopefully the capsule raves & dismissals listed here will at least make U laff a little bit. It's amazing how many of these books R music-related. Most of the rest R science-fiction or horror or other off-the-wall stuff....
After I get thru this, I promise 2 find something new 2 write about. Working my way backwards, then....
+ Roger Zelazny: CREATURES OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS -- The Egyptian pantheon of gods fights it out in an Epic Battle Btween Good & Evil 4 The Fate Of The Universe. Slow start & weak Nding, but in-Btween it's vivid, involving, hilarious, poetic.
+ K.W. Jeter: MANTIS -- Creepy horror novel, Xtremely vivid, involving & well-written. If SF writer Barry N. Malzberg had ever written horror, it mighta come out something like this; the book's dedicated 2 him.
- John Blake: ALL YOU NEEDED WAS LOVE: THE BEATLES AFTER THE BEATLES -- Attempts 2 Xamine the Beatles' solo careers after their breakup. Thin, sad, Dpressing.
* Roger Zelazny: THE DOORS Of HIS FACE THE LAMPS OF HIS MOUTH AND OTHER STORIES, +THE LAST DEFENDER OF CAMELOT, +LORD OF LIGHT, +THIS IMMORTAL, +ISLE OF THE DEAD -- DOORS is the best single-author SF collection ever, including amazing pieces like the title story, "The Man Who Loved the Faioli," "This Moment of the Storm," "This Mortal Mountain," "Lucifer." CAMELOT is a slightly-less-brilliant collection but includes classics like "For a Breath I Tarry" & "The Engine at Heartspring's Center." The other 3 R novels, all inventive & worth reading, if not perfect -- but WAY better than RZ's Ndless series of AMBER novels....
- Steven Gaines: HEROES AND VILLAINS -- The Dcline & collapse of the Beach Boys. All the dirt is here, & Gaines piles it on. Dpressing.
* Harlan Ellison: THE GLASS TEAT & THE OTHER GLASS TEAT -- TV criticism from the late '60s & early '70s. So brilliant & angry it glows in the dark. Could scar U 4 life. But U won't mind....
* Tim Cahill -- A WOLVERINE IS EATING MY LEG, *JAGUARS RIPPED MY FLESH, *PECKED TO DEATH BY DUCKS, +ROAD FEVER, +HOLD THE ENLIGHTENMENT, +PASS THE BUTTERWORMS, *BURIED DREAMS -- 1st 3 R collections of hilarious essays, usually about "adventure travel" -- walking across Death Valley, cave-Xploring in Georgia, mountain climbing, scuba diving, diving w/ poisonous sea snakes, jumping out of perfectly good airplanes, etc. ROAD FEVER is about trying 2 set a world-record drive from the south end of South America 2 Point Barrow, Alaska -- occasionally funny, tho the preparations take longer than the drive. HOLD & PASS R Cahill mellowing w/ age, still funny, but mayB not as punchy. BURIED DREAMS is about Chicago serial-killer John Wayne Gacy, & the last 1/4 of the book really WILL scar U 4 life....
* John McPhee -- ASSEMBLING CALIFORNIA, *RISING FROM THE PLAINS, *BASIN AND RANGE, *THE CURVE OF BINDING ENERGY, *COMING INTO THE COUNTRY, *THE JOHN MCPHEE READER, +ENCOUNTERS WITH THE ARCHDRUID, +TABLE OF CONTENTS, +GIVING GOOD WEIGHT, +THE CONTROL OF NATURE, =IN SUSPECT TERRAIN -- My choice 4 the greatest non-fiction writer of the past century. Everything McPhee writes is vivid, involving & often funny. ASSEMBLING, RISING & BASIN R all about the history & geology of the American West -- the series won him the National Book Award. ENERGY is about securing nuclear weapons & reactors -- the Nd is eerily prophetic about R new century. COUNTRY is all about Alaska; it's huge. The last 1/2 is a long series of vivid character sketches of the state's people, but my fave part is the middle, which follows a search 4 a new site 4 the state's capitol. ARCHDRUID is a series of debates w/ Sierra Club founder David Brower -- best is the last, in which Brower & Bureau of Reclamation director Floyd Dominy take a raft trip 2gether thru the Grand Canyon, arguing all the way. READER, CONTENTS & WEIGHT R all collections of often-outstanding shorter pieces; READER Xcerpts Xcellent sections from McPhee's 1st dozen books. NATURE is about repairing dikes along the Mississippi. TERRAIN is about the geology of New Jersey, probly best if U live there.
* Hunter S. Thompson: FEAR AND LOATHING ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL '72, *THE GREAT SHARK HUNT, +FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, +HELL'S ANGELS, +SONGS OF THE DOOMED, =THE CURSE OF LONO, =GENERATION OF SWINE -- The greatest political writer of the '60s & '70s. Hilarious, vivid, involving, outrageous. CAMPAIGN TRAIL covers the Nixon/McGovern campaigns, always hilariously & at times almost unbelievably. SHARK HUNT is an amazingly good best-of, not very-well organized. LAS VEGAS is famous, the opening few pgs R brilliant. HELL'S ANGELS is vivid, but I wished it had bn wilder, like Thompson's later work. Thompson lost his gift at the Nd of '77; DOOMED has a few good things, the rest R dull.
* Dave Marsh: THE HEART OF ROCK AND SOUL: THE 1,001 GREATEST SINGLES OF ALL TIME -- Marvelous, hilarious, moving essays on some of the greatest rock & R&B songs ever, w/ tons U've probly never heard B4....
+ Tim Riley: TELL ME WHY -- Xamines the Beatles' recordings in depth -- good & in4mative, but a bit dry. Ian MacDonald's REVOLUTION IN THE HEAD covers the same ground in more depth & more inventively.
+ Edward Lee: COVEN -- Over-the-top horror novel, almost like a comic book. When Lee uncovers yet another new outrage U'll B shocked, laff, shake yr head, wonder if he means it, if he's joking, if he's serious....
= Isaac Asimov: THE GODS THEMSELVES -- Brilliant, wild middle section, 1 of the most inventive things Asimov ever did. But the rest is dull. It's a scandal that Robert Silverberg's brilliant DYING INSIDE lost both SF's Hugo & Nebula Awards 2 this....
- Arthur C. Clarke: RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA -- The dullest. Spacemen Xplore an alien probe that briefly passes thru the solar system. Nothing's ever Xplained & the characters R cardboard cutouts. Go read Clarke's 2001 or CHILDHOOD'S END instead.
* ROLLING STONE RECORD REVIEW VOLUME II -- Classic writing on classic albums, all from the early '70s pgs of ROLLING STONE: Arthur Schmidt & Stephen Holden on the Beach Boys, John Mendelssohn on the Kinks & the Move, Lester Bangs on all kinds of stuff....
* Paul Tingen: MILES BEYOND -- WAY better than the series of late-'60s/early-'70s Miles Davis jazz-rock albums it Xamines in amazing depth & Dtail....
= Frederic Dannen: HIT MEN -- THIS is record-industry corruption?
* Robert Christgau: CHRISTGAU'S RECORD GUIDE: THE '70s, *THE '80s, +THE 90s -- I didn't like his know-it-all, smart-ass Attitude at 1st -- he hated everything I loved! But 1nce I learned 2 roll w/ it I Dcided Uncle Bob can B very knowledgeable & can B a good guide even if yr tastes directly clash w/ his. I'm still not completely sure about his '90s book....
* Dave Marsh & John Swenson: ROLLING STONE RECORD GUIDE -- 4 awhile my fave book ever 2 argue w/ & throw across the room. But there's also some very good info here. I don't trust the later editions....
+ Mick Fleetwood: FLEETWOOD -- Just about everything U'd ever want 2 know about the Big Mac, written by their drummer. Solid, Dtailed, vivid, involving, funny. It could even have gone on longer. But in these cases I always want 2 know MORE....
* Nicholas Schaffner: SAUCERFUL OF SECRETS -- 2nd-best rock band bio ever, about Pink Floyd. Way better, more involving & more Dtailed than even Nick Mason's memoir on the band.
+ Dan Kennedy: ROCK ON -- Kennedy worked at Atlantic Records 4 a few months in the '00s, during which he botched sevral projects & couldn't keep himself from getting fired. Funny in places, but U & I would never have messed-up such an opportunity....
* David Leaf: THE BEACH BOYS AND THE CALIFORNIA MYTH -- Best band-bio ever, lots of solid info & Dtails on the Boys' career, Brian Wilson's personal demons, the PET SOUNDS & SMILE periods, & much more. Outdated a bit now, but still a near-perfect job.
+ David Hajdu: POSITIVELY 4TH STREET -- Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Mimi Farina & Richard Farina, & how their lives & careers intertwined in the early '60s. Involving.
+ Jeff Tamarkin: GOT A REVOLUTION! -- Solid bio on Jefferson Airplane & Starship, great Dtails & lotsa quotes, long Dscriptions of the recording of each album along the way, tho of course I wish it had bn longer. But the discography is just a list of album titles....
= Clinton Heylin: BOOTLEG! -- Disappointing history of unauthorized recordings. Good technical & legal Dtails & interviews w/ key figures Bhind the scenes, but there is very little discussion of the actual music made available thru bootlegs or the significance of it....
+ Stan Cornyn & Paul Scanlon: EXPLODING! -- History of Warner Bros Records, written by the man who created hilarious off-the-wall print ads 4 Randy Newman & Van Dyke Parks in the '60s. Cornyn's amusing writing carries the 1st 1/2 of the book; the 2nd 1/2 is just a blur -- 2 much happens, which may have bn the point....
+ J.G. Ballard: VERMILLION SANDS -- Marvelous, magical SF short stories about an artist's colony at the edge of a sand sea -- very unlike the rest of the late author's often-grim work. Best R the beautiful "Cloud Sculptors of Coral-D" & "Venus Smiles," in which Ballard revealed 4 perhaps the only time ever that he actually hadda sense of humor....
* Richard DiLello: THE LONGEST COCKTAIL PARTY -- Hilarious history of the Beatles' Apple Records, written by the company's "house hippie." DiLello was there 4 "Hey Jude," the WHITE ALBUM, John & Yoko's weirdnesses, the Paul Is Dead rumors, & when it all fell apart. Vividly, at times daringly written, lotsa priceless moments.
* Roger Dean: VIEWS -- Gorgeous album-cover artwork from the '60s & '70s, including Dean's trademark work 4 Yes & many others.
* Hipgnosis: WALK AWAY RENE -- More gorgeous album cover art, mainly photos from albums by Pink Floyd & many others. The text by photog Storm Thorgerson not only Xplains how the photos were shot, it includes priceless, hilarious stories about how all the parts came 2gether....
* George R.R. Martin: DYING OF THE LIGHT -- Best SF novel ever. Vivid, moving, intense, gorgeous. A classic "space opera."
= Kim Stanley Robinson: THE MEMORY OF WHITENESS -- SF meets future music, but the sometimes-good writing gets tangled-up in a disappointing cloak&dagger plot.
+ Thomas Mallon: A BOOK OF ONE'S OWN -- About diaries & journals & the people who write them, w/ Xcerpts from some of the greatest & most revealing Xamples ever, from Anne Frank 2 Richard Nixon 2 people I guarantee U've never heard of....
* Algis Budrys: BENCHMARKS -- Nearly 40-yr-old SF criticism from the best SF critic ever. He tackles many of the field's classics, gives insights on how they came 2 B written, & gets across what it feels like 2 create this wondrous stuff....
- Frank Herbert: GOD-EMPEROR OF DUNE -- In the running w/ Clarke's RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA 4 worst major SF novel ever....
= George R.R. Martin: THE ARMAGEDDON RAG, +WINDHAVEN, +A SONG FOR LYA AND OTHER STORIES, +SONGS OF STARS AND SHADOWS, +SANDKINGS, +TUF VOYAGING -- RAG is a weak rock&roll novel, buried by a lame cloak&dagger plot, only 5 pgs of real magic in the whole book. The 1st 2/3rds of WINDHAVEN -- about a society of "fliers" who carry letters & news Btween the island residents of a watery world -- R so great it doesn't matter that I can't remember the Nd. The others R collections of George's early-'70s work, when he was 1 of SF's best writers. Greats: "A Song for Lya," "With Morning Comes Mistfall," "This Tower of Ashes," "The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr," "Night Shift," "The Stone City," "In the House of the Worm," "Sandkings," "Nightflyers," "The Plague Star"....
* Gael Baudino: GOSSAMER AXE -- 2nd-best rock novel ever. A Harper from the land of Faerie forms an all-women heavy-metal band 2 blast a hole Btween the worlds & rescue her 1 true love from The Other Side. Brilliant, involving, moving, there's a happy Nding 4 every1, & the rock band Dtails R perfect.
* Lewis Shiner: GLIMPSES -- The greatest rock novel ever. Shiner's hero can create unheard music by rock superstars just by thinking about it. & in an effort 2 create lost greats like the Beach Boys' SMILE, the Doors' CELEBRATION OF THE LIZARD, Hendrix's FIRST RAYS OF THE NEW RISING SUN, he meets these larger-than-life heroes -- all while dealing w/ his own Life Issues: crumbling marriage, father's death, mother growing older, love, mortality, etc. Vivid & moving, & Shiner gets all the musical Dtails Xactly right.
= Terry Southern, Richard Branson, etc.: VIRGIN: A HISTORY OF VIRGIN RECORDS -- Disappointingly thin photo-book history of the British label which started out brave & daring & uncommercial, then later went super-commercial w/ Paula Abdul & the Rolling Stones. I'd love 2 know more about their off-the-wall earlier yrs....
* Lester Bangs: PSYCHOTIC REACTIONS AND CARBURETOR DUNG, *MAINLINES, BLOOD FEASTS AND BAD TASTE -- 2 Xcellent collections of Bangs' wild & wide-ranging rock criticism from the '70s. Both books include many classic pieces, the 2nd has 2 articles on Miles Davis that NE jazz or jazz-rock fan should read (including Paul Tingen, see above).
* Jack Ketchum: SHE WAKES, *THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, *OFF SEASON, *HIDE AND SEEK, +JOYRIDE, +THE LOST, -LADIES' NIGHT -- Often-superb horror novels; brutal, gutsy, direct -- Ketchum wastes no time. HIDE AND SEEK & SHE WAKES R probly best; GIRL NEXT DOOR isn't quite as harrowing as its rep. The others R at least solid, Xcept 4 LADIES' NIGHT, which is 2 far over the top.
+ Tim Sandlin: JIMI HENDRIX TURNS 80 -- Residents take over a senior citizens' home in a revolution straight outta the '60s. Hilarious, compassionate, moving.
+ Phil Patton: DREAMLAND -- Off-the-wall "travel guide" 2 the area around Nevada's notorious Area 51 test range, home of the Stealth bomber & fighter & lots of UFOs. Lots of sketches of area characters & Xploration of the history & folklore.
+ David Darlington: AREA 51 -- Much of the same material covered from a slightly more sober viewpoint, w/ a bit more emphasis on the high-tech. Combine these last 2 books 2gether & U've probly got the best book possible on the subject.
+ Ian McDonald: DESOLATION ROAD -- 1st 1/2 of this history of an imaginary village on Mars is vivid, inventive, involving & funny. 2nd 1/2 gets strangled by Killer Plot.
* ALL MUSIC GUIDE TO ROCK -- MayB not everything U'd ever wanna know, but a lotta good info, & some of the writing is really amazing, especially on acts like T. Rex, Mott the Hoople, Caravan, Camel....
* Jon Savage: ENGLAND'S DREAMING -- The rise of the Sex Pistols & Punk Rock in a vivid & Xhaustive history. Some of Savage's writing is frighteningly good, as in his Dpiction of the Pistols' last concert in San Francisco, & the decline & death of Sid Vicious. There R also many vivid character sketches of Punk notables (Poly Styrene, Siouxsie Sioux, others). U don't havta B a Punk fan 2 love it....
+ Neal Stephenson: SNOW CRASH -- Pretty good smart-ass SF, vivid & funny, w/ everything U'd ever want Xcept a good Nding....
- Jerry Lucky: THE PROGRESSIVE ROCK FILES -- The worst rock book ever, filled w/ typographical errors & opinions treated as facts. Most valuble is the last 1/2, in which Lucky lists some 1,500 prog acts, many of whom I'd never heard-of B4. But even that list is riddled w/ mistakes, & he leaves a lot of artists OUT....
+ John Peel & Sheila Ravenscroft: MARGRAVE OF THE MARSHES -- Peel attempts 2 recap his long history as BBC DJ & champion of new music ... & the story is lovingly completed by his wife after his death. Funny, w/ lotsa great stories, I wish it had bn longer. Ravenscroft's part of the book is actually better, more Dtailed & more revealing than Peel's -- she was far enuf from the subject & the happenings around him 2 Dscribe it all....
* Kathe Koja: SKIN, *THE CIPHER, *BAD BRAINS, +STRANGE ANGELS, +KINK, +EXTREMITIES, *THE BLUE MIRROR, +STRAYDOG, =BUDDHA BOY -- Koja was the greatest horror novelist of the '90s & SKIN is the best horror novel ever; about performance art, body alteration, creativity & much more, when Koja's characters hurt, so will U. THE CIPHER is equally brilliant, claustrophobic & creepy, tho the Nding's weak. BAD BRAINS is 9/10th's of a great novel; another weak Nding. KINK & STRANGE ANGELS R transitional -- both have very good things in them. EXTREMITIES is an at-times brilliant collection of stories. The last 3 R young-adult novels: BLUE MIRROR is the best since SKIN. STRAYDOG intensely Dscribes the relationship Btween a teen girl & the collie she adopts from the pound. BUDDHA BOY also deals w/ misfits; tho not a complete success, Koja's vivid, abrupt writing will paint a clear picture 4 U. I look 4ward eagerly 2 Koja's next horror novel....
* Ian MacDonald: REVOLUTION IN THE HEAD -- A wondrous look at the Beatles' recordings. Amazing Dtails, stunning insights, vivid writing. The ultimate Beatles book.
* Robert Draper: ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE: THE UNCENSORED HISTORY -- Vivid, Dtailed story of how Jann Wenner's mag went from a counterculture touchstone 2 a gossip sheet 4 his friends. LOTS of talent squandered along the way, & Draper misses nothing. Brilliant but Dpressing, sounds just like every newspaper I ever worked 4....
* Dominic Priore: LOOK! LISTEN! VIBRATE! SMILE! -- Scrapbook about the Beach Boys' lost SMILE album, coulda used an editor, but there's some Xcellent stuff here, especially Jules Siegel's brilliant 1968 magazine piece "Goodbye Surfing, Hello God!"
+ Roddy Doyle: THE COMMITMENTS -- Fast-paced & funny novel about a group that forms "to save Ireland thru R&B." Nds just as it's Getting Really Good, but worth reading -- & 4 Ghod's sake, C the movie!
+ Damien Broderick: TRANSMITTERS -- Real Life & SF meet & clash. Not a complete success, a little dry, but an intresting Xperiment....