Book Reviews x Three Please
OK, got to be honest here. I’ve been very busy with work and life in general and it has been difficult to find time between my other writing and earning and spending a dollar to write a new blog this month. So there, judge me harshly if you will. So what I thought I would do is give you a few pieces which I wrote off my own bat for the book club I am a proud member of - Tough Guy Book Club - look them up toughguybookclub.com
Our book club reads fiction, and so do I mostly but now and again I like a non fiction book that focuses on some interesting topic. And I thought I would share my thoughts about these books with interesting things to say on some quite varied topics.
So without further justification let me shamelessly recycle the following
Joe Bob Briggs Goes To The Drive In
With Halloween fast approaching, I thought this month’s book that you will never read in TGBC should be of a certain, obvious theme. “Joe Bob Briggs Goes to the Drive In’ is a 1987 compilation of movie reviews written by Joe Bob ‘s alter ego and good old boy writer John Bloom. Hard to believe, but they were all published originally in the Dallas Times Herald and represent comic satire from a different time, and being Texan, a different place. I want to make clear there needs to be a number of warnings at this point. Language, concepts, spoilers and this book is very definitely, how shall I put this, NOT politically correct. On the other hand if you laugh at South Park, American Dad etc. you will enjoy this book.
One other thing is that you will need to like is movies and by movies I mean B grade movies. Joe Bob claims he has seen 6800 drive in movies [his belief is this is how the good lord intended us to watch movies] and we are talking slasher films, monster movies, kung fu [what Joe Bob calls chop socky], raunchy college tales like Porkys and Goin All The Way and cheesy superhero fare before Marvel was a thing.
Joe Bob’s reviews also feature his interesting private life, friendship group and local happenings just as much as the films themselves. His movie rating system remains a pinnacle of comparative analysis. Obviously given a man of vast experience in his field his knowledge of these particular subgenres is extensive and having seen quite a few of these films I can only endorse his comments.
With review titles like This Month’s Art Film: Mad Monkey Kung Fu and Heads Don’t Roll, but The Last Virgin Makes J.B.’s Best of 82 List and my favourite, The Evil Dead- We’re Talking Red Meat City I hope you can see the fun within.
If I have got you interested the bad news is that the book is almost certainly out of print but as the world has changed so has Joe Bob. There is a podcast and website for your perusal. www.Joebobbriggs.com
As Joe Bob says himself - Check It Out.
Joe Bob Briggs Goes To The Drive In
Joe Bob Briggs
325 PP Penguin Originals Books
The Tyranny of Merit – Another book that won’t be on the TGBC reading list but is worth your time.
“The meritocratic ideal is not a remedy for inequality; it is a justification of inequality.”
“For the more we think of ourselves as self-made and self-sufficient, the harder it is to learn gratitude and humility. And without these sentiments, it is hard to care for the common good.”
These two quotes from American academic Michael J Sandel’s latest book The Tyranny of Merit sum up perfectly his questioning of our obsession with success and the idea that there must always be winners and losers that has accompanied globalisation and neoliberalism.
This a cracking, thought-provoking book from one of the USA’s leading public intellectuals. You might know him from his You tube videos direct from his Harvard classroom where you can join a thousand Harvard first years discovering the philosophic joy of the Trolly Problem, utilitarianism, justice and Emmanuel Kant. The videos are entertaining as well as educational and much cheaper than going there.
The book offers a fascinating position argued in a clear scholarly tone in language that is like the breakfast cereal, not too heavy not too light. Not only does Michael Sandel analyse the how and when and the thought processes, often made with good intentions, that lead us to where we are now. He even offers some solutions that could redress the problem. Whether we believe in his position and want to take on his ideas on how we can fix this and potentially save democracy is of course up to us.
If you’re at all interested in this important discussion I definitely recommend this read.
The Tyranny Of Merit – What’s Become of the Common Good
Michael J Sandel
Allan lane through Penguin Books 2021
272 pages
GLAM
I thought I would post quick intros/ reviews of some fav books of mine that are never going to come up as one of our monthly books but might be of interest to fellow goons. First up a book on one of my favourite music genres, the much-maligned Glam Rock of the early 70s. Shock And Awe – Glam Rock and Its Legacy by Simon Reynolds seems pretty much definitive to me.
Flirty sister to power pop [surely in a language like Italian where objects have a gender Glam Rock would be ending in an A and not an O], Glam Rock was an outburst of fun, gender bending and earworms just as rock started to become more pretentious and blokey. Its emphasis on rock basics, short catchy tunes as well spectacle and personas was critical to the development of Punk and New Wave.
So a scholarly treatise and history featuring the big names is a great and necessary read. The book covers major themes, influences and the ongoing aftershocks. The biggies are discussed including the dead (Marc Bolan), the manufactured (The Sweet), the disgraced (Gary Glitter), the accidental (Mott The Hoople) and of course Mr. David Bowie, just beginning after a few false starts, on his journey to become the 70s most influential recording artist [yes, happy to discuss that claim anytime, anywhere.]
Don’t know what I mean by Glam Rock? Here are five classics.
The Ballroom Blitz -The Sweet
Get It On (Bang a Gong) – Marc Bolan and T Rex
All The Young Dudes – Mott The Hoople
48 Crash - Suzi Quatro
Queen Bitch- David Bowie
Shock and Awe by Simon Reynolds
Harper Collins 687 PP
