Book Description
Jean Shepherd (1921-1999), master humorist, is best known for his creation A Christmas Story, the popular movie about the child who wants a BB gun for Christmas and nearly shoots his eye out. What else did Shepherd do? He is considered by many to be the Mark Twain and James Thurber of his day. For many thousands of fans, for decades, "Shep" talked on the radio late at night, keeping them up way past their bedtimes. He entertained without a script, improvising like a jazz musician, on any and every subject you can imagine. He invented and remains the master of talk radio. Shepherd perpetrated one of the great literary hoaxes of all time, promoting a nonexistent book and author, and then brought the book into existence. He wrote 23 short stories for Playboy, four times winning their humor of the year award, and also interviewed The Beatles for the magazine. He authored several popular books of humor and satire, created several television series and acted in several plays. He is the model for the character played by Jason Robards in the play and movie A Thousand Clowns, as well as the inspiration for the Shel Silverstein song made famous by Johnny Cash, "A Boy Named Sue." Readers will learn the significance of innumerable Shepherd words and phrases, such as "Excelsior, you fathead," and observe his constant confrontations with the America he loved. They will get to know and understand this multitalented genius by peeking behind the wall he built for himself - a wall to hide a different and less agreeable persona. Through interviews with his friends, co-workers and creative associates, such as musician David Amram, cartoonist and playwright Jules Feiffer, publisher and broadcaster Paul Krassner, and author Norman Mailer, the book explains a complex and unique genius of our time. "Shepherd pretty much invented talk radio ... What I got of him was a wonder at the world one man could create. I am as awed now by his achievement as I was then." - Richard Corliss, Time magazine online
Customer Reviews:
An Excellent Compendium of Shepherd's Life.......2007-05-14
This book does not attempt to be a linear, narrative biography of Shepherd's life, but instead contains voluminous material organized around broad themes that cut across different time periods of his life. This is both a difficulty and a strength. It can make for a somewhat difficult and disjointed reading experience. The text contains extensive quotes from Shepherd's radio broadcasts, which, while valuable to have in writing, lose something in translation from Shepherd's delivery to written text and break up the flow of Bergmann's text. However, when viewed as a Jean Shepherd encyclopedia, the book is an indispensable addition to a Shepherd fan's library, as it assembles a prodigious amount of material. The book paints a full picture of Shepherd in both his genius and his flaws, including a sensitive treatment of Shepherd's problematic relationships with women and with his two, sometimes unacknowledged, children.
Excelsior, You Fathead! Missed a lot .......2007-05-13
I was very disappointed after reading this book. A lot of good information about the life of Jean Shepherd was left out. Many details of his life were either missed or overlooked. I would hardly call it a biography. Most of the details were left out. After reading the entire book, I said to myself, "Is that it?" Hopefully someone will write a more complete story of such a man that was larger than life.
Warts and all, still a genius.......2007-04-11
For this listener of the incomparable Jean Shepherd when his show was live on WOR radio out of New York and who still tunes in via taped recordings on the internet, "Excelsior...[ever higher]...You Fathead! [a Shepherdism]" is very welcome. His show did not book guests; it was Shep alone, monologist at work. Yes, Shepherd branched out into books, records, and a film he wrote and narrated--but those were pale imitations of the real thing, the radio show.
Some of Bergmann's revelations about Shepherd's personal life will be disappointing to those who carried his banner a tad too high. Bergmann is a fan but his view of Jean Shepherd's unpleasant side is unvarnished and well-researched through interviews and published quotes of those who knew him. By all accounts Jean Shepherd was a hard man to know. Purposely so: he often did not give his real address to employers, coworkers, and friends. He would disappear for days in fast cars, touring the countryside. He traveled the world, usually alone. Which left the author fewer sources than he would have preferred decades after Shepherd's radio years. But he found enough. They offer insights into the "enigma" in the title, a polite description of a probable manic-depressive who often sabotaged his own dreams of fame and fortune.
The "art" was spun out of an empty studio near Times Square in the quiet of late night from the 1950s to the mid-70s; it is an art like no other before or since. Some of Shepherd's monologues are partially excerpted here from recordings Bergmann painstakingly transcribed. Among these the author deftly weaves details he has unearthed of Shepherd's childhood in Indiana, his Army service, his tempestuous years in the Big City.
Of course, not all Shepherd's radio broadcasts were unforgettable. The man had to fill forty-five minutes every night. When he got away from his natural talent for storytelling and indugled in shrill rants against all manner of "phoniness," he played too strongly to the sophomoric segment of his audience, the size of which he sometimes claimed dismayed him, Bergmann notes. Yet throughout his career Shepherd relied heavily on gigs at college campuses for extra income. But he wanted it all. The author relates how his subject fancied himself an heir to Jack Paar on the big-money "Tonight Show" before Johnny Carson snatched it away; had he won the job, Shepherd wouldn't have lasted a month: he was consistently dismissive of that audience...but he still craved its approval. And was bitter he didn't get it.
Yet, he played Carnegie Hall to great success. Carson was an admirer, Bergmann says, advising Shepherd to "get out of that damned medium [radio]." But radio was made for Shepherd and he for it. Bergmann writes that U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins grew up a regular listener and acknowledged being influenced by Shepherd. When Shep was "on," it was magic. Regretfully, talk radio was withering in Shepherd's best years. And he knew it.
This is the first book-length work that gives real shape to the man that was Jean Shepherd and the genius behind the voice.
A crummy commercial........2006-12-31
Forget "A Christmas Story" for a moment. Even this long love letter to Jean Shepherd only covers it to the extent of two pages. This book attempts to document the body of work Mr. Shepherd produced, within its contemporary context, and relate it to the present-day descendants. At least, that's where I think the author intended to go.
What ended up happening, from what I can tell, is that there was a great deal of research done 'breadth-wise' and not enough 'depth-wise'. Mr. Shepherd had two children who he disowned, which was a bit of a shock considering his on-air persona. This alone merited an entire chapter of material, analysis, interviews, anything. It barely made it into the book, except to lightly underscore some mild point about Mr. Shepherd being a bit of an SOB. There are all these interesting inflection points throughout, but no attempt is made to root out anything other than a mere mention or two. Instead, the author chooses to use radio transcripts to either demonstrate some thinly-connected theme (Shep as a jazz talk-radio guy, Shep as an anti-corporate loner, Shep as a 'realist'). The transcripts are hit and miss on the coverage of the point being proposed as well. Yes, it's great to read some Shep transcripts, but what's the point being made here?
As a full spectral coverage of Mr. Shepherd's work, it fails to catalog along some consistent continuum all of the work, in its proper context. The author could've used a timeline structure to place all of the known media, which would have made an extremely useful supplementary guide for the book as well as a nice 'wish list' for fans. I feel as though this review could easily turn into the kind of editorial feedback the author needed *before* he submitted his final galleys.
For all the heft of this hardcover, I expected far more analysis or even a somewhat cogent thesis. Even as a comprehensive biographical reference book, it falls far short in the editing department. Still, it merited three stars because it does bring much to the table. It never really organizes it, though.
-Fred
Hmm.. Head Scratcher.......2006-07-17
This will be short and not so sweet. I was disappointed in this book for one reason, it read like a text book, and a very boring text book at that. I don't mean any disrespect because I know this work took hundreds of hours, and the information was very interesting, but like I said it was boring and I had to struggle through just to finish it
Book Description
How does the jazz of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Billie Holiday, and Charlie Parker fit into the great tradition of the modern arts between 1920 and 1950? In Jazz Modernism, one of our finest cultural historians provides the answer.
Alfred Appel, author of
The Annotated Lolita ("superb . . . full of vigor, gems, and stratagems"--Vladimir Nabokov), compares the layering of sex, vitality, and the vernacular in jazz with the paper collages of Picasso, and the vital mix of high and low culture found in Joyce. He shows how the musical construct of jazz was pared down by the masters as sculpture was in Calder's hands or prose in Hemingway's. He makes clear how Armstrong and Waller tore apart and rebuilt Tin Pan Alley material in the way that modernists in the visual arts arrived at wood assemblage and scrap-metal sculpture. He enables us to see that Ellington's "jungle" style was as un-primitive as Brancusi's self-conscious Africanesque sculpture. And along the way, he "recalls" live jazz perform-ances during the 1950s by Armstrong and John Coltrane, among others, and the night Charlie Parker played to a visibly thrilled Igor Stravinsky at Birdland.
Making connections as illuminating as they are unexpected, Alfred Appel gives us a brilliant new way of understanding jazz.
Customer Reviews:
Riffs........2004-11-18
In 1964 while I was an undergraduate student at Stanford University, I had the privilege of taking a course called Modern American Novel taught by Alfred Appel, Jr.. This seems like ancient history, but the highlights of the class were lectures on Nabokov's Lolita, Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Nathaniel West's novels, Eudora Welty's collection of linked stories called Golden Apples. Perhaps what impressed me most about the lectures-and what has stayed with me through my life, was Appel's conviction that great literature is infused with love of music, to interplay of ideas, to woven themes, and that artistic expression is unified by the interactions of music, words, and art. At that time Professor Appel peripherally connected Eudora Welty's story "Powerhouse" and Fats Waller-rhythms, riffs, variations, improvisations--jazz and prose, rhythm and wit. These recollections of mine are reflected in the subjects and the method of Jazz Modernism. In this book we have something akin to Nabokov's multicultural, multidimensional universe as viewed through musicians--Armstrong, Ellington, Waller, Joe Jones, Bird, Coltrane--artists (Picasso, Matisse, Miro, Leger)- writers (Hemingway, Joyce, Welty)--songwriters (Gershwin, Arlen)-and photographers (Leonard, Calder, Blancard, Walker-Evans). The focus is jazz and the musicians, but the range is modern art and the book is full of pictures of all manner of cultural artifacts--paintings, record labels, portraits, posters, sculpture. Appel analyzes cultural riffs, counterpoint, variations, puns, perspectives. This is a spectacular performance--but don't take my word for it--read it for yourself.
More or less than meets the eye?.......2004-03-30
Well, this is certainly not your nice, quiet sedate history of jazz. First off, it's printed on coated, gloss paper and weighs a ton--all the better to show off the remarkable artwork reprinted inside. The book is divided into five essays, not chapters. Appel's writing style is initially off-putting. He is obviously influenced by the French postmodern lit-crit crowd, and at first the book seems to be nothing but a jumble of random thoughts. At first, I thought it was a bad put-on and almost gave up, but was glad I stuck it out.
Appel convinced me that jazz has had a profound impact on the visual (painting and sculpture)and literary arts during the first two decades of the 20th century. The visual patterns and colors of the post-expressionists (especially Matisse, Mondrain and Brancusi)were significantly influenced by the jazz 78s that these artists cranked out in their studios. His analysis of the transformation of Mondrain's work during and after his flight from Europe to New York from the starkness of Landscape With Red to the explosive vigor of Broadway Boogie-Woogie was excellent.
Simularly, these strange new rhythms caught the ear of Fitzgerald and (maybe) even Joyce. However, the author is less convincing that culture flowed in the other direction: while several jazz artists were avid readers of the new literature, and in their late lives a few collected art, prior to WWII, I still have to believe that for most musicians of African descent, music was the way out of the slaughterhouse or off the levee.
The greatest strength of this book are its beautiful graphics--paintings, sculpture, record labels, photos of musicians. If it wasn't for its standard 6 X 10 format, you would think it was a coffee table book. Appel's jagged, Monk-like prose, with its Coltrane-length digressions, is both a strength and a weakness. Is he trying to use his own prose to demonstrate the basic moves of the(post)modernist aesthetic, or is he just showboating--a cheap Focault knockoff (the way that every homeboy with a tenor and a habit mimed Parker in the early 50s)?
After 10 pages I would have said "faker," but having stuck it out to the coda I say "real thing."
I'll Be Glad When You're Read (You Rascal You).......2003-01-24
It's an extremely rare thing for me to buy a book after only a few minutes perusal, but that's what I did with this one. It didn't seem to matter what page I turned to: I was met with such an abundance of ambitious and adventurous observations, not only on Jazz, but on The Arts in general, that I could scarcely believe my luck. I felt like I was getting a bargain!
I can only compare Mr. Appel's lively and perceptive book to two other favorites of mine: "Mystery Train" by Greil Marcus, and "Trickster Makes This World" by Lewis Hyde. In fact, you could say that Appel does for Jazz here what "Train" did for Rock and Roll. He even goes Marcus one better by deconstructing actual record labels and, like Marcus, he wears his loves on his sleeve. I don't think you'll read a better informed or more affectionate analysis of the career and art of Louis Armstrong, who strides through this book as Elvis and the Sex Pistols did through Marcus' "Train" and "Lipstick Traces", respectively. If you were to read this book only for what he has to say about Armstrong, you'd get more than your money's worth. And he's not afraid to challenge some long established notions, either: Are Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings really the high water mark of his art? To read any other critic, you'd think so. One of this book's many refreshing accomplishments is its defense of Armstrong's lesser known work and his struggle to appeal to his jazz base while having to court a pop audience.
The remarkable thing about this wonderful book is that this is only one aspect of it. One page of Appel's book seems to throw out more light on the connections between disparate aspects of 20th Century culture than other people's entire books. The puns and seeming improvisation in the writing are well suited to the subject at hand and allow Mr. Appel to bring together topics that normally wouldn't share the same page. Tex Avery? Armstrong? Picasso? What's going on here? We may live in an age far more accepting of blurring the line between "high" and "low" culture, but we've still got a long way to go, and Mr. Appel's book successfully demonstrates that Art is not created in a vacuum.
This doesn't really begin to hint at the riches of this book. I haven't even mentioned the stories of Mr. Appel's first-hand experiences. This confirmed Stravinsky addict, with a shelf's worth of books on the subject, had never read the story related here of the time Stravinsky met Charlie Parker (a meeting that's sort of emblematic of the whole book). And the rabid Joycean in me was delighted by the analysis of "Ulysses", not an easy accomplishment after years of tired repitition in journal after academic journal.
Anyone with even a passing interest in Jazz, Art, or 20th Century culture in general, and who enjoys adventurous cultural commentary, needs to read this book. Profusely illustrated with photographs and reproductions that help him make his points, "Jazz Modernism" is, like its subject, breathtakingly alive and ready to show you a good time.
This book is so bad, I'm in awe of it!.......2002-12-31
First off, this book is so poorly written that I can't believe the author ever passed first grade! The first paragraph introduces a new idea in each sentence, none of which quite relate to the other, and the sum of which reads like a TV Guide synopsis of A Very Important History of the Modernist World. In the second paragraph, the author puffs himself up in the worst professorial hot air by stating that people constantly ask him for his list of the 100 Best this and that of the last century---yeah, they probably ask him this when they have the misfortune of being cornered by him at a cocktail party and want to change the subject! Secondly, while the idea behind this book is fascinating, the arguments are misdirected, scholarly blather that turns jazz, literature, and art into a bore. And I think he completely misses the perfect example that would make his argument: Django Reinhardt, who not only pioneered jazz guitar but was also a prolific modernist painter. The book is beautiful, however, with gorgeous design and stunning reproduction of artwork and photos. Still, I want my money back!
Average customer rating:
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Who's Who in Television and Cable
Steven Scheuer
Manufacturer: Facts on File
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ASIN: 0871967472 |
Customer Reviews:
A very worthwhile resource........1998-10-16
This book is an alternative to the telephone-sized industry directories we've all bought. It's small and concise, and seems to have mostly the "players" in it. Minimal ads, and a nice quality book. My only complaint is that it doens't come out often enough! I'd recommend it for both those looking to get into the industry and those working in it already. I find it a handy , quick reference.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Winnipeg Free Press, published by Thomson Gale on June 4, 2007. The length of the article is 456 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Bumbling builders to learn who's worst.(TV - Articles)
Author: Gale Reference Team
Publication:
Winnipeg Free Press (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 4, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: d5
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Book Description
This digital document is an article from San Fernando Valley Business Journal, published by Thomson Gale on June 5, 2006. The length of the article is 1681 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Dialing into new territory: Tim McCallion, who heads the entire Western Region for Behemoth Communications company Verizon from his office in Thousand Oaks, is pushing to get into the cable business.(People)
Author: Mark R. Madler
Publication:
San Fernando Valley Business Journal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 5, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 11
Issue: 12
Page: 26(1)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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Ever-changing technology mirrors the weather.(WHO-TV): An article from: Business Record (Des Moines)
Sharon Baltes
Manufacturer: Business Publication Corp.
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ASIN: B000ALQX5K
Release Date: 2006-07-14 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Weekly Standard, published by Thomson Gale on May 7, 2007. The length of the article is 844 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
Author: Victorino Matus
Publication:
The Weekly Standard (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 7, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 12
Issue: 32
Page: NA
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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Los Angeles Business Journal, published by Thomson Gale on October 17, 2005. The length of the article is 722 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: In world without moguls, who pulls strings?(Michael Eisner)
Author: Mark Lacter
Publication:
Los Angeles Business Journal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: October 17, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 27
Issue: 42
Page: 54(1)
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Internet lead generation: who really delivers? Achieving maximum results in e-franchising.(Lead Generation): An article from: Franchising World
Kurt Robertson
Manufacturer: International Franchise Association
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This digital document is an article from Franchising World, published by International Franchise Association on September 1, 2004. The length of the article is 1286 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Internet lead generation: who really delivers? Achieving maximum results in e-franchising.(Lead Generation)
Author: Kurt Robertson
Publication:
Franchising World (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2004
Publisher: International Franchise Association
Volume: 36
Issue: 8
Page: 29(2)
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This digital document is an article from Chief Executive (U.S.), published by Chief Executive Publishing on December 1, 2002. The length of the article is 2167 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
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Title: Last of the dot-com baby barons. (Compensation).(Chief Executive Officers who have just turned 30)(Brief Article)
Author: Sonja Sherwood
Publication:
Chief Executive (U.S.) (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 1, 2002
Publisher: Chief Executive Publishing
Page: 12(1)
Article Type: Brief Article
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This digital document is an article from Chief Executive (U.S.), published by Chief Executive Publishing on March 1, 2002. The length of the article is 2195 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The leadership handoff: It can be swift or slow, messy or clean, but sooner or later the top spot changes hands. It's not just who you choose but how you manage the transition. (Cover Story: Redefining Leadership).(Cover Story)
Author: Jennifer Pellet
Publication:
Chief Executive (U.S.) (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2002
Publisher: Chief Executive Publishing
Page: S20(6)
Article Type: Cover Story
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- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
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Will Failure Spoil Jean Shepherd?
A Fistful of Fig Newtons
Jean Shepherd: Don't Be a Leaf
Jean Shepherd: The X Random Factor
Jean Shepherd and Other Foibles
