CBGB AND ITS "other music" crowd may be gone, but the Bowery now hosts another — wealthier — type of consumer, the kind that might stroll down Bleecker Street sipping a latte and munching a chocolate-covered rice-crispy treat.
You know, leaving one giant Starbucks and walking directly across the street to the other giant Starbucks.
Which is fine.
But some people can't help but look back with a little bit of nostalgia for the time when the Bowery was basically one giant used-up syringe.
Back then you knew everybody on the street, because only so many people were crazy enough to live there. And in that post-apocalyptic climate, people like Lydia Lunch and James Chance made music that perfectly echoed the nihilism and desperation of the neighborhood — music that would later be named "no wave."
In their book "No Wave: Post-Punk. Underground. New York. 1976-1980" music writer Byron Coley and musician/writer Thurston Moore attempt to define exactly what no wave was and why it was exhilarating and important. (Moore and Coley's work follows closely on the heels of local author Marc Master's book, "No Wave.")
Moore spoke with Express about the book and his own experiences living in No Wave New York. Moore and Coley will make two local appearances on Tuesday, July 29: at Politics & Prose at 4 p.m. and at the Corcoran Gallery of Art at 7 p.m.
Continue Reading "Write Your Idols: Thurston Moore on 'No Wave'" »
WASHINGTON POST REPORTER PHILIP PAN'S new book, "Out of Mao's Shadow: The Struggle for the Soul of a New China," makes several things abundantly clear, but perhaps none more forcefully than that the 20th century was uniquely tragic and horrific for China.
Pan examines the fallout of Mao's famines, purges, civil wars and witch-hunts, noting that these massive events — little studied or understood in the U.S. — are perhaps even less well recalled in China.
The importance of historical memory is a major theme of "Out of Mao's Shadow" and — as the soul of a new China is struggled over in this book — the meaning of the nation's past is, too. Pan starts "Shadow" with the fraught funeral of a former general secretary of the Communist Party, Zhao Ziyang, who had opposed the use of force in Tiananmen Square. Consequently, Pan writes, "the party put Zhao under house arrest and set about erasing him from the public memory."
"Zhao's death revealed a scar on the nation's conscience" — and the nation's wounds are the book's focus. Along with Tiananmen Square, Pan looks at an overgrown cemetery for victims of the Cultural Revolution, a documentary filmmaker obsessed with the hidden legacy of a fierce intellectual dissident, the horrors of Chinese coal-mining, riots, SARS, sterilization, abortion, labor camps and so on. The overall effect is an eye-opening read that's nightmarish at worst and bleakly Orwellian at best.
"I didn't set out to write a book that's nightmarish," said Pan. "I was a little surprised, when I finished writing the book, how dark it ended up. I was hoping it would be more hopeful."
But, in some ways, the book is hopeful. Pan repeatedly emphasizes that, as oppressive as the Chinese state is now, it was far more brutal in the past. The Chinese economy roars along — "hundreds of millions of people have been lifted out of poverty" — and, as Pan subtly suggests, the Communist Party could topple at any time.
"Let a hundred flowers bloom, let the hundred schools of thought contend," Mao once said, slyly encouraging dissent for a time before bloodily crushing the dissenters. The dictator's legacy is such that the long-suffering Chinese people must still struggle mightily to be heard.
Express spoke with Pan about run-ins with the police, mine disasters, the one-child policy and more. He will also discuss his work on July 22 at Politics & Prose.
Continue Reading "China's New Soul: Philip Pan on 'Out of Mao's Shadow'" »
CHRISTIAN LANDER'S NEW book, "Stuff White People Like: The Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions," is a fast, funny read — but it could also help you out if you need a favor from a white person. As Lander notes, "There are good tips in here for really solid gains in terms of favors and friendships and exploitation."
When Lander talks about white people, he's talking about the "right kind of white people" — well-educated urban liberals like the author. These white people are wracked by guilt, plagued by a desire for authenticity and integrity, are probably in therapy and likely haunted by divorce — and Lander portrays these plaid-wearing vegans as a pitiful, easily manipulated breed. It's a rich vein for humor.
"If you meet a white person who has just finished college and has told you that they are moving to Brooklyn to become a writer, you should never under any circumstances suggest they are making a mistake. When they are this young, it's best to say, 'Of course, you have to take the chance now, because you may not have it when you are older. But I know you're going to make it.' This last bit of encouragement will virtually guarantee you a free place to stay when you visit New York City."
So, beyond "following their dreams," what are some things white people like? In no particular order: Dave Chappelle, "The Wire," expensive sandwiches, recycling, bicycles, apologies, "The Simpsons," architecture, marijuana, co-ed sports, Apple computer products, '80s nights, diversity, farmers markets, film festivals and dive bars.
As Lander's book arose from a popular blog, it's easy to see if his brand of humor is your cup of tea (which is also something white people like) before you buy the book: just go to stuffwhitepeoplelike.com.
And Landers' favorite entry in his book? Assists. "That's the one that always makes me laugh. It's always funny. Passing is an important part of white culture."
Express and Landers enjoyed a brief chat last week. He'll further discuss his book, blog and existence on Wednesday at Politics & Prose.
Continue Reading "The Right White: Christian Lander on 'Stuff White People Like'" »
THURSTON CLARKE'S NEW book "The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America" is a deeply moving account of RFK's race against time to secure the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination.
Of course, Kennedy's campaign ends tragically, when he is gunned down at close range hours after winning primaries in California and South Dakota.
Clarke's exceedingly detailed book tells you what RFK ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner and also how he was touched or seen by hundreds of thousands — perhaps millions — of Americans as he did slow-moving motorcade tours of the countryside and inner-cities, along with huge rallies and brutally candid — and funny — Q&A sessions with voters.
In fact, Clarke could have just called the book "The Passion of RFK."
The senator heals the sick, surrounds himself with troubled children and social outcasts, tells the people hard truths, exhibits a weary fatalism about his coming death, and endures both the adulation and abuse of massive crowds. Kennedy appears as a prophet without honor, less appreciated by his own comfortable white upper-class than by urban African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and working-class whites.
"The Last Campaign" contains nary a discouraging word about the candidate. Clarke's portrait of RFK's wild, passionate, outrageous, free-wheeling, exuberant and doomed final months is a fast, easy, infectious read. When Clarke describes scenes such as Martin Luther King Jr.'s funeral march — in which Kennedy joined the multitudes — the author writes so vividly that "The Last Campaign" may move a cynic to tears.
Express spoke with Clarke about his research methods, Barack Obama, Jeff Greenfield, white "backlash" voters and more. He will also discuss his work on Tuesday at Politics & Prose.
Continue Reading "The Passion of RFK: Thurston Clarke on 'The Last Campaign'" »
THE ITALIAN SOLDIERS stand 10 meters apart, piercing the night with torches and keeping the road clear. A barefoot Ethiopian man hurls his slim frame down the ancient pass as astonished spectators look on. Abebe Bikila is on his way to setting a new world record in the marathon and winning the Olympic gold medal — the first black African to do so.
It should not be difficult to construct a compelling narrative around events such as this, and David Maraniss, a Pulitzer winner and associate editor at the Washington Post, is up to the task with his new book, "Rome, 1960: The Olympics that Changed the World."
"There's a way to illuminate history through sports," said Maraniss, and his book offers vivid snapshots of a time when cold war rivalry was thick, America struggled over segregation, African countries were gaining independence, doping and steroids were on the rise and many athletes, especially women, struggled to get a fair shake from an International Olympic Committee controlled by royalty and an autocratic, egocentric, possibly criminally insane American businessman.
Ah, the days.
The book jumps from story to story, picking up and dropping off characters frequently, which seems a wise way to deal with the scope of potential material — despite the book's considerable heft, entire Olympic events are left nearly unmentioned. Those which are covered — basketball, track and field, boxing, spycraft and diving, among others — are presented with depth, clarity and erudition.
One of the few things that sticks in the reader's craw is the book's subtitle. It is difficult to see how this 1960 Rome Olympics changed the world. The Olympics seem a historical product, not a historical agent.
Remarkably, Maraniss appears to share this skepticism.
"You know, the subtitle is just a subtitle," he said. "I don't write polemics. I didn't write it with that subtitle in mind. I wrote it because of what I saw as all of the important things I saw coming together in Rome."
The author says he did not pick the subtitle. "I mean, I'm willing to argue for it, but it's not the point of the book. The point of the book is the world was stirring at that moment."
Express spoke with Maraniss about Cassius Clay, James Bradford, Avery Brundage, the India-Pakistan field hockey championship and, yes, subtitles. He will also discuss his work on Wednesday at Politics & Prose.
AMANDA RIPLEY'S NEW book, "The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes — And Why" is a valuable resource for those who want to take a common-sense, intelligent, practical look at life under pressure. But the book will also appeal to the chronic worriers and disaster fetishists who are the most likely to pick up this trove of eye-opening information.
"The Unthinkable" is a fast read, filled with facts, stats and anecdotes, but the conclusions it reaches are hardly radical: To survive a disaster, it helps to keep one's composure, have well-drilled escape plans, maintain functioning smoke detectors, listen to your flight attendant's lecture and so on. Ripley even notes that infinitely more people die of cancer, heart-disease or old age than of terrorism, plane crashes or earthquakes.
But next to these reiterations of common knowledge are frequent insights gleaned from the worlds of evolutionary psychology, regular psychology, CAT scans, lab rats, post-disaster studies, Ripley's own extensive interviews with survivors and so on.
Ripley, a reporter for Time Magazine and a former staff writer at Washington City Paper, takes readers inside fires, stampedes, tsunamis, airplane crashes, floods and massacres.
Ripley also maintains a Web site, which includes "a real-time disaster map of the world," the author said. The site also contains her blog, which is "more reactive to breaking news" about disasters and provides "a lot of specific tips and theory on how the brain performs during different disasters."
She spoke with Express about hajj stampedes, the stress of a crisis, evolutionary psychology and which disasters Washingtonians should prepare for.
Continue Reading "Pondering the 'Unthinkable': Amanda Ripley" »
SOOTHE YOUR politically conscious soul with a barbed and angry book. Barbara Ehrenreich, famous for authoring "Nickel and Dimed," will read and sign her latest work at Politics & Prose on Monday. "This Land Is Their Land" is a collection of satirical essays pointing out the gap between rich and poor in America. It'll definitely be funny, but you'll walk away depressed, in that slightly satisfying way.
» Politics & Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW; Tue., 7 p.m., free; 202-364-1919. (Van Ness-UDC)
Photo by Jay Paul for the Washington Post
"YOU PICK UP a book and you open the first page and you're supposed to be in a different world," said spy novelist Alan Furst. "It's supposed to take you away from whatever world you're in. I try to get a feeling of atmosphere. When you read my book — if I'm doing it correctly — you're supposed to feel, 'Oh, I'm in Paris, it's nighttime, it's snowing ....' That's what I want you to feel as a reader."
With more than 10 historical espionage novels under his belt, Furst is quite good at mastering atmosphere. His latest novel, "The Spies of Warsaw," follows the life of the French military attache in 1937 Warsaw as he works with German spies and attempts to find out what Hitler's army has planned as World War II looms.
As Furst takes his readers through Paris, Germany, French Ardennes forest country and, of course, Warsaw, his attention to detail and history immerses the reader in the subtle details of European politics and culture in the late 1930s.
"When I started this series, I wanted to write what I thought of as a 'panoramic historical spy novel.' It was very quickly that I discovered the 1930s and 1940s. It had this 'good and evil politics' of Nazis and Stalinists on the evil side and the British and French on the good side," Furst said.
Continue Reading "Historical Intrigue: Alan Furst's 'The Spies of Warsaw'" »
WHILE SILVERDOCS IS the toast of the area's film world this week, the D.C. Caribbean Film Festival returns as the little engine that could.
It's not a huge festival, with seven films in total — and the first two, the classic Jamaican film "The Harder They Come" and the Marley family documentary "Africa Unite," having screened on June 6 — but it's an important presence simply because over the past few years it has shown movies that have otherwise been ignored or unavailable in our region.
The remaining five movies in the series are from Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Haiti, and all will be presented for free at the University of the District of Columbia.
Titles, descriptions, links and video clips after the jump.
Continue Reading "Cinema Carib: D.C. Caribbean Film Festival" »
Original Diva: Strait Jacket
Map It:
Van Ness
JOAN CRAWFORD is the ultimate diva, and you can experience her slightly terrifying awesomeness at Hillwood Estates, where they're showing Straight Jacket. It's not one her most famous films, but it's still worth seeing. Basically, Joan Crawford plays an ax murderer who gets out of jail and may or may not be up to her old tricks. Yeah, don't bring the kids.
» Hillwood Estate, 4155 Linnean Ave. NW; Fri., sunset, $10-$15; 202-686-5807. (Van Ness)
Photo courtesy TCM
Addison Road