BOOKS THREAD

"Scholars of Mayhem" by Daniel C. Guiet and Timothy K. Smith, an excellent true-life tale of WWII espionage. Guiet's father worked for the OSS and MI6 in Vichy France and his story is told here for the first time.

 

Paul McCartney's life and career has been documented as extensively as any rock musician I can think of not named Lennon, Dylan or Presley. But that hasn't stopped Allan Kozinn and Adrian Sinclair from embarking on The McCartney Legacy, a multi-volume project documenting McCartney's solo career. Vol. 1, which covers 1969 - 73, begins with the implosion of the Beatles and ends just after the release of Band on the Run.

Its an oversized, physically hard to read book and its nearly 700 pages cover a lot of ground: his life right after the Beatles split and his desire to get away from the band both physically (he has beef with Lennon - obviously, this hangs over almost every page - but also with George and even Ringo) and financially, his relationship with Linda, his decision to live in rural Scotland, the formation (and end) of the original Wings lineup and loads more.

To me one of the most interesting things was an area few biographers bother with: his return to the road, first in popup dates at British universities and then with full on tours of the continent. But the book, which I think takes it cue from Mark Lewisohn's Tune In, the first volume in his Beatles bio series, easily the gold standard for rock books about any artist, gets bogged down in way too many details. This is a busy, dense book that presents way more than anyone but the most fanatical Macca fan would want to know about the writing and recording of McCartney, Ram, Wild Life, Red Rose Speedway and Band on the Run. I enjoy reading about and watching the creative process, how an artist like him can seem to make something out of nothing in no time, but there's way too much minutiae here about mic setups, studios, engineers and producers, alternate takes, key changes and chord progressions that would only be of interest to somebody who really understood it.

In the end McCartney comes across as he always does: insanely talented, totally devoted to Linda, demanding, autocratic and kind of flighty (he often dreamed up projects that disappeared just as quickly as they came) but given he was a Beatle, I will probably be reading Vol. 2.

 

"Here, Right Matters" by Alexander Vindman. Fairly thin book, but still earns a worthy spot in the voluminous Trump Tragedy library. Even aside from his impeachment testimony, Vindman's life is pretty interesting: fled from the USSR as a child in 1979, moved to Brooklyn, graduated from Harvard, served in the U.S. Army alongside his identical twin brother....before his collision with one of the most grotesque figures in American history.

 

Trust by Hernan Diaz is a novel which appeared on a bunch of Best of 2022 lists, and having just finished it I strongly concur. The book is presented as four different books by four different authors—everything is written by Diaz, to be clear—and while that can sound tiring, it all mounts to great effect. By the end it becomes a rare thing, an upper-middlebrow page turner.

 

I'm about a third of the way through Waco, by Jeff Guinn. It's about - you guessed it - the Branch Davidians, the ATF raid and the mess that followed. Guinn does a great job of taking subjects that have been written about countless times - like Bonnie and Clyde, Charles Manson, Jim Jones and Jonestown - and finding stuff no one has reported previously. I just wish the title of the book was something else since the Davidian compound was several miles outside of Waco, but I guess the title doesn't leave any doubt as to the book's subject.

 

You ever read "Stalling for Time" by Gary Noesner? He was the first negotiator who was then replaced, at which point things kind of went to shit. The TV series is based on that book. Really interesting read.

 

Haven't read that, yet, Flip. I've read his Wyatt Earp book which is amazing and his Pershing/Pancho Villa book is solid.

 

Yeah, everything I've read by him is solid. I've heard him speak to classes at my university, and the effort he puts into his reporting is pretty amazing. I talked to the director of the public library in Waco yesterday, and she said he put in a bunch of hours of research there.

 

A minor classic from 2003: Mike Stanton's "The Prince of Providence" about former mayor Buddy Cianci. This a great book. Epic in scope, with dozens and dozens of characters you'll never see in any other book.

Cianci, a blue state Republican, was a vile, corrupt sleazebag who people thought was charming and charismatic but was really just a doughy bully with fake hair.

This guy sadly managed to get re-elected after he received a felony conviction after assaulting some dude who he thought was fooling around with Mrs. Cianci. (Cianci cheated on her repeatedly).

Cianci then went to the big house later for unrelated corruption charges.

 

Cianci was a fuckwad and a thug, yeah. I would also recommend the first season of the podcast "Crimetown," which gets into Providence politics before, during and after Cianci. So many colorful characters.

 

I finished this over the weekend. As usual, Guinn's reporting and writing are first rate. He interviewed ATF and FBI agents who hadn't yet spoken publicly about the raid on the compound in 1993, and it was pretty much agreed that the whole thing was compromised from the start. There's also an interesting history of the Davidians leading up to Koresh's taking over the group a few years before this all happened.

There were a couple of editing things that I'm surprised slipped through. One agent's name is spelled differently in two spots. And when Guinn talks about an agent going home for a weekend during the standoff, he says that Round Rock is several hours south of Waco. It's just a little over an hour.

And...the whole "Waco" thing. Guinn acknowledges early in the book that Mount Carmel is about eight miles outside Waco, but the book is still titled Waco. I guess it's going to grab some attention that way.

Guinn will be in town this week for a talk and signing. Looking forward to hearing him.

Joe Bob says check it out.

 

Enjoyed something different from the library: "Foreverland: On the Divine Tedium of Marriage" by Heather Havrilesky.

An advice columnist who's roughly my age pokes fun at her husband and, especially, herself while also blasting the suburbs, middle-age affairs/fantasies, traveling with kids and more first-world problems. And deep down, she finds amid all the arguments and annoyances, he's a great husband.

Reminded me of these lyrics: "And now you're working in a bank, the family man, the football fan. And your name is Harry. How dull it seems ... yet you're the hero of my dreams."

I LOL'd several times while reading Havrilesky's book, and it's a well-written page turner. Recommended.