Saturday, February 20, 2021

Some books I've read 45


Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
Springsteen is a storyteller, both in his songs and here, in this book. He's basically going record to record. But no mention of Human Touch and Lucky Town, for some reason... 
I should listen to his Broadway show as well.
 
Set The Boy Free by Johnny Marr 
Well written and occasionally very funny about his time in The Smiths and then solo career. I still don't feel any interest in reading Morrissey's book.

Life by Keith Richards 
I've been looking for a biography of Rolling Stones, then realised, why not read Keith's autobiography? You can sort of hear his voice when you read. And he gives Mick a couple of kicks in the ass, seemingly well reserved.

Leonard Cohen: Untold Stories: The Early Years by Michael Posner
An oral biography of  Lenny. Some contradicting memories by some of the contributors here. Lots and lots of women, of course. Marianne is one of them, and also, interestingly,  Kelley Lynch, Cohen's manager, who stole his money. I guess she will have more to say in volume 3. And I didn't know that Suzanne Elrod's real name apparently is Susan. She changed it to Suzanne, to become the person in his most famous song.

Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson
I enjoyed Neuromancer and The Difference Engine back in the days, but found this one a bit hard to get through.
 
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Cartoonist by Adrian Tomine 
Quite a funny book from Tomine about the life of a cartoonist. No respect, to quote Rodney Dangerfield.  And Tomine is one of the few cartoonists that managed to change his drawing style. The more cartoony look is more appealing than the slightly wooden look of his earlier, more realistic style. 
 
Chronique de Jeunesse by Guy Delisle
An autobiographical book by Delisle of the three summers he worked in a paper factory in Quebec. I could relate to a lot of it from my nine months working in a furniture factory. There's also the relationship between him and his dad, which is always an interesting subject.