What I am reading today: Satchmo
Buying a Kindle changed my life in at least one way: I can’t seem to finish a book anymore. I currently have a few running at the same time and skip from one to another to another but only when I can tear myself away from watching New York teams lose football games.
Satchmo – Gary Giddins – Giddins, the former Jazz critic for the Village Voice, taught me more about the theory of jazz than any single other person, Armstrong taught me more about the sound.
Ju;liet, Naked – Nick Hornby – The problem with writing about fictional bands is you can’t hear the music in your mind and so everything about the fictional band sounds stupid. It killed Lethem’s “You Don’t Love Me Yet” and doesn’t do Hornby any favors.
The Magicians – Lev Grossman – What if Harry Potter graduated Hogwarts and hung on the lower east side.
High On Arrival – Mackenzie Phillips – A must read for anyone with any heroes of rock left.
The King James Bible – You haven’t read the Old Testament till you’ve read the Old Testament. It’ll blow you away. The Bible and Plato’s Dialogues are the must reads to have a chance in hell of figuring out Western Civilization.
