Building on the national bestselling success of Sex; Drugs; and Cocoa Puffs; preeminent pop culture writer Chuck Klosterman unleashes his best book yetmdash;the story of his cross-country tour of sites where rock stars have died and his search for love; excitement; and the meaning of death.For 6;557 miles; Chuck Klosterman thought about dying. He drove a rental car from New York to Rhode Island to Georgia to Mississippi to Iowa to Minneapolis to Fargo to Seattle; and he chased death and rock lsquo;nrsquo; roll all the way. Within the span of twenty-one days; Chuck had three relationships endmdash;one by choice; one by chance; and one by exhaustion. He snorted cocaine in a graveyard. He walked a half-mile through a bean field. A man in Dickinson; North Dakota; explained to him why we have fewer windmills than we used to. He listened to the KISS solo albums and the Rod Stewart box set. At one point; poisonous snakes became involved. The road is hard. From the Chelsea Hotel to the swampland where Lynyrd Skynyrdrsquo;s plane went down to the site where Kurt Cobain blew his head off; Chuck explored every brand of rock star demise. He wanted to know why the greatest career move any musician can make is to stop breathing...and what this means for the rest of us.
#350082 in eBooks 2005-07-19 2005-07-19File Name: B000FCKB0C
Review
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Part of it is useful.By A CustomerI agree that part of the book is useful for newcomers: essays of Brechts own; and key papers in Brecht studies. But the third part can be improved upon. Here the criteria for selection take a nose dive: geological distribution becomes priority number 1 and the editors only strive to keep a balance regardless of the quality of the paper. Martins essay is especially ill informed and hopelessly outdated. Why not use something by Antony Tatlow; the leading authority?Readers should also be aware that the selection here seems to be limited to articles that appeared in past TDR. Translate: you will only get a partial view of the Brecht Studies through a North American lense. The third part just fails to balance this "prejudice" out.4 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Demystifying the ComplexBy Jeffrey AnbinderFor me; like many in the "mainstream;" my first taste of Brecht was "The Threepenny Opera." I was lucky enough to be in a theatre class taught by a very sharp and open-minded professor who allowed me to gain a better understanding of the work by writing (and "casting") a film script based on it; instead of the usual critical paper.But the complexities of Brecht have remained difficult for me to crack; and I was delighted to find this Sourcebook. Martin and Bial; the editors; have compiled a powerful selection of criticism; including translations of a couple of Brechts own essays.Sartres piece on looking beyond bourgeouis theatre found its mark for me and opened my eyes about conventions and assumptions. Kurt Weill on musical theatre provided me with new understanding on his intentions in parting ways with easy tradition.But it was particularly the section on Brecht interpreted abroad that enlightened me to his enormous influence as a writer and director. Tadashi Uchino skillfully gets at how a theatrical culture as drastically different as Japans can adopt and adapt external viewpoints to expand its own horizons; and editor Carol Martin brings great insight to Brechts early revolutionary views on alienation in Chinese theatre as they relate to feminism.I dont pretend to be an authority on Brecht after reading this sourcebook (though I did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night). But those looking to understand his work and his views better; particularly those who already have respect for his work and his lasting influence; will find the book quite useful.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Best Introduction to BrechtBy A CustomerThis book brings together Brechts aesthetic theories; the practice of his theories; and the various ways he has been intrepreted abroad. The essays are readable and are by Brecht; practitioners; and scholars.