Book Description
Route 66: Lost and Found conveys the spirit and the times, not quite like any other book. Arizona Daily SunFor several decades, Route 66 was the nation's main east-west thoroughfare, pointing Middle America toward all the promise California seemed to hold at various times, whether permanent refuge from the Dust Bowl or a temporary escape from the drudgery of everyday suburban life in prosperous postwar America. As such, America's Main Street once teemed with activity . . . bustling centers of commerce that evaporated into the vast American landscape like the jet contrails overhead and the heat rising from the Interstate asphalt. This engaging look at the "Mother Road" takes 75 locations along its 2,297 mile route from Chicago to Santa Monica and shows them first during their halcyon heydays through black-and-white photographs and period postcards, then on the facing page as they appear today, from the exact same angle and also through vivid black-and-white photographs.
Customer Reviews:
amazing book .......2007-08-06
this is a great book in my opinion i love it very informative nice pictures and comparisons from old-new of most photos of places .. i have been on bits of 66 over the years i may never drive the majority of it but reading this book made me feel like i did wonderful is all i can say
Lost and Found.......2007-07-24
Both volume one and two are very interesting and well researched books.
I traveled Route 66 a couple of years ago and reading the book was fascinating- now I know how many locations I went sailing past without a clue!
When I next get a chance to do a repeat journey, I shall certainly re-read the books very thoroughly and travel slower so as not to miss such historic scenes.
Lots of Memories.......2007-07-14
I love this volume and number two. As a child in the fifties whose father was an Air Force officer, I remember the thrills and excitement I had whenever my father would be posted to a new base. My sister and I would be in the back seat and we always drew an imaginary line on the seat which delineated our respective domains.
We would love the nighttimes because when we drove through the towns, there were all these brightly lit signs for drive-in movies. We would usually stop for gasoline and have lunch in some greasy spoon. It seemed like each restaurant booth had a box on the wall that would beckon one to play five songs for a quarter from the jukebox.
As an Army officer myself in the 60's and 70's, I traveled Route 66 with my own family. The thrill was still there up until the 70's when it became more expedient to use the interstates.
These aforementioned books continue to bring back very fond memories.
It is readily discernable that the author spent numerous hours researching his information for each of his photos. Where possible, it appears that he shot the modern versions of the subjects from the same angle as that shown in the archival photos.
I hope there will be a volume III and volume IV.
Interesting book, room for improvement.......2007-05-19
First I have to admit being a bit envious of anyone who hast the time and lifestyle that lets them drive around seeking out these old ruins. I bought this book because I already had the other volume and enjoyed it. I think it would be improved if the 'now' photos were really sized and shot to compare more readily with the 'then' photos; some of them are hard to visualize that it's the same place due to changes in perspective between the photos. Also I would really like to see a few interior shots of the ones which are still standing, abandoned or not, vs. possibly anything available of what was taken long ago if any such pictures exist. I did enjoy the book however; there are lesser efforts out there.
Great book to compare what Rt 66 was to what it is today........2007-04-12
Basically my subject line says it all. This is a unique book on Rt.66 in which it pretty much gets down to details on the buisness establishments and attractions that exist(s)(ed)on the entire run of Rt.66.
The author compares each structure (or attraction) and shows a picture of what it looked like in it's heyday, and what it looks like now.
What is amazing is how many business's have not changed much or have been restored when the comparison is given.
The book is very well laid out and is hardcover, so it could be a nice reference book or even a coffee table book that could be put out to stir up conversations.
This book is NOT a guide on how to get to certain attractions on Rt. 66. Nor does it explain the full history pf the road.
If you are planning a Rt. 66 road trip, you can use this book to find out what you want to see, but then I recommened getting "Route 66 Adventure Handbook: Updated and Expanded Third Edition" by Drew Knowles.
If you want to read up more on the history of Rt. 66, then I would recommend "Route 66: The Mother Road" by legendary Rt 66 historian, Michael Wallis.
Between these three books, one could easily plan a trip on Rt. 66 and be very well informed of its past as well as current history.
NOTE: The only reason why I gave this book 4 and not 5 stars is that not all of the Rt.66 attractions are covered. In fact quite a few of the more well known attractions are not in this book. However, this book is a second volume and there is obviously a volume 1.
Book Description
History and first-person accounts of this famous no tell motel. Includes more than 100 color and b/w photos by Route 66 photographer Shellee Graham.
Customer Reviews:
They Don't Make 'Em Like This Anymore!.......2006-09-28
I now realize I was born 25 years too late. In the current world of homonginzed travel on Interstate highways and sleeping in cookie cutter motels, it is always nice to stay "some place different". After reading this book, we now know what is lost each time a place like this falls to the wrecking ball of progress.
I did see the relocated & rebuilt facade of one of the Coral Court units a few years ago at the Museum of Transportation in St Louis. The materials used were first rate. Motel chains would never build like this today - much too costly and would effect the bottom line and make stock holders angry.
The book mentions both the good and bad of the Coral Court. I'm still upset after reading what became of the main entry sign, but we still have our memories and the many pictures in this book.
This Book is Tops!.......2004-02-06
Anyone who is a true "roadie" will appreciate Shellee Graham's effort to bring the Coral Court alive with her words and photos. Thanks, Shellee, you have created a masterpiece! This is truly a wonderful memorial to the beautiful Streamline Moderne that is no longer.
Gold Plating for the Coral Court.......2000-08-09
Shellee Graham's photography and research, combined with essays and comments from former patrons and employees, result in a gold-plated tribute to a long-standing lodging stop on the outskirts of St. Louis, MO. Constructed in portions, prior to and after World War II, the Coral Court Motel was an icon of luxury during the early years of the Baby-Boomer generation. Sadly, it lost its glamour as its facilities faded from modern accomodations into delapidation as the 1940's evolved into the 1990's. The author's dedication (along with those of like-minded groups) to save it from demolition failed, however Shellee Graham has lovingly restored it into both its prime and demise. This is a very worthwhile book and mandatory reading for anyone who has ever stayed in a non-chain motel. For anyone who has an interest in the evolution of travel facilities, this is a must-read.
Fabulous memorial to a departed Route 66 icon.......2000-07-30
Before its unfortunate demolition in 1995, the Coral Court Motel enjoyed dual renown. The Streamline Moderne marvel was both the most beautiful motel along Route 66 and the most notorious "hot sheet" motel in metropolitan St. Louis.
Shellee Graham's tribute to the Coral Court honors both sides of the legacy. (The text is rated PG, though I suspect the author would have little difficulty producing an R- or X-rated version.) Ms. Graham, a noted Route 66 photographer, combines her own images with period shots and numerous interviews to trace the birth, life and death of the Coral Court. Highly recommended to fans of Route 66 or roadside architecture -- as well as anyone who ever took advantage of the covered garages attached to each unit for an hour or two of private, er, "rest."
An Important Work for the Roadies of the World........2000-06-14
As icons of the Mother Road disappear - most in the name of progress - there is always much wringing of hands and crying about preservation. The reality of preservation is the cost - something most preservationists are not aware of. Shellee Graham could see the future of the Coral Court and set to work in 1993 to preserve this icon on film - then over the years interviewed dozens of people about this world famous icon of Route 66. The culmination of her efforts are presented in Tales from the Coral Court... . Each story and photograph bring this famous "no-tell, motel" back to life. Shellee has answered the questions about those infamous garages, hourly rates, and why this landmark was lost to progress. This is the most important Route 66 book to have come out in the past few years and is THE Route 66 book of the year 2000. Thank you Shellee for giving us the definitive book on one of the most memorable locations on Route 66.
Book Description
"Detours and Lost Highways begins with the Orson Welles film, Touch of Evil (1958), which featured Welles both behind and in front of the camera. That movie 'is often cited as the end of the line, noir's rococo tombstone...the film after which noir could no longer be made, or at least could not longer be made in the same way'...'It is my belief,' Hirsch writes, 'that neo-noir does exist and that noir is entitled to full generic status. Over the past forty year, since noir's often-claimed expiration, it has flourished under various labels.' Among the movies he discusses as evidence: Chinatown (1974), Body Heat (1981), John Woo's Hong Kong blood-ballets (e.g., The Killer, 1989) and the pulpy oeuvre of Quentin Tarantino." -Washington Post Book World
Customer Reviews:
Tour of Neo-Noir Film, from 1960s Rarity to Contemporary Hollywood Mainstay........2006-09-12
Foster Hirsch wrote one of the first American books about classic film noir, "The Dark Side of the Screen", in 1981. In "Detours and Lost Highways" (1999), he takes us on a tour of neo-noir from its sporadic appearances in the 1960s and 1970s to its emergence as a "mainstay of commercial narrative filmmaking" in the 1980s and 1990s. Hirsh asserts that film noir has "a claim to genre status" at this point, in particular because of the style's persistence, and we tour of 4 decades of neo-noir, with an eye out for themes and style in common with the classic period as well as those characteristics that distinguish neo-noir films from their classic predecessors. Hirsh sometimes labels films with distinctly contemporary approaches as "nouveau noir", in contrast to the parody, pastiche, and retro themes so common to neo-noir, which I found interesting and accurate.
By way of introduction, Foster Hirsch explains where he's coming from and where he intends to take us before embarking on the tour of neo-noir. Chapters 2-4 explore neo remakes of classic noir films, the French influence on early noir and noir's influence on French auteurs, and neo films based on the hardboiled crime novelists of the 1930s and 1940s, with particular attention to Jim Thompson's books. Chapters 5-9 organize the discussion of neo-noir films by motif: detective films, femmes fatales, dramas of misfortune, hard-core criminals, and Black noir, from blaxploitation to the "cautionary fables" more common today. Chapter 10 comments on hybrid noirs: horror-noir, science fiction-noir, and comedy-noir. There is a bibliography, filmography, and index in the back of the book. Note that the filmography includes all films to which Hirsch alluded, not just noir films.
"Detours and Lost Highways" is one of few studies dedicated to neo-noir, so I'm happy to report that the book is very worthwhile. Foster Hirsch is an often keen observer who has a lot of interesting things to say about movies. I was disappointed that "To Live and Die in L.A.", one of the few neo-noirs that I think approaches the depth and cynicism of the classic cycle, was not included. So be warned that your favorite films may not all be covered. (And remember that this book stops at 1999.) Like any analysis of culture, "Detours and Lost Highways" is not without controversy. The chapter on femmes fatales, in particular, exemplifies the marked differences in how academics interpret films and how audiences do. And, as far as I can tell, Hirsch accepts all of academia's currently fashionable ideas about film noir's origins and themes, flimsy as they may be. But noir buffs will recognize the tired suppositions and appreciate the tour of neo-noir's old habits and new approaches to the dangerous, chaotic, noir world.
Great examination of Modern Noir.......2003-02-07
With roots reaching deep into film history, the stylistic conventions of film noir have been present throughout the history of cinema. Moreover, the hardboiled tales that lent themselves to noir's stylistics that reached their heyday in the 1940s have never fully disappeared from the silver screen. In Detours and Lost Highways, Foster Hirsch examines classic noir films and their influence on later films. Primarily focusing on original works and their later remakes, Hirsch places the films into cultural and historical perspective, noting the necessity for change in the films according to their era and how they work (or, more often, don't).
Hirsch's book is right up my alley. I'm a big fan of noir and am always curious about how films change going from their original concepts to the screen and to their subsequent remakes and/or influences. Detours and Lost Highways is an exhaustive work whose only fault may lie in its curious omission of key noirs and neo-noirs such as WHITE SANDS, PALMETTO, and DETOUR (and its remake). Likewise, while Hirsch provides a terrific history of noir in pre- and post-war France, he unfortunately misses out on discussing the great noirs of Japan. These points notwithstanding, Detours and Lost Highways is necessary reading for noir fans and students of film history. (ISBN: 0879102888)
Interesting Detours.......2002-12-08
I liked this book, although it seemed that half the time I disagreed with Hirsch on the film he was discussing. For example, he found a lot more to like the the Lumet-Fonda "The Morning After" than I did. Curiously enough, even when Hirsch criticized a film I liked, I didn't find him annoying.
The book begins very well, with a discussion of "Odds Against Tomorrow," a film noir that came out after "Touch of Evil," the last "official" noir. This leads Hirsch, after a discussion of noir in French cinema, into looking at neo-noir. Hirsch organizes his material by subgenre or archetype, such as private eye films.
My serious problem with the book was that it covers so much, from 1959 to the late 90s. That is much longer than the original noir era (1941-59). Thus it seems odd to have films like "Shock Corridor" and "The Long Goodbye" discussed with "Reservoir Dogs" and "Basic Instinct," as if they were part of the same era. I think Spicer in his new book on film noir treats neo-noir better by splitting it in two (Sixties and Seventies vs. Eighties and Nineties).
However, Hirsch discusses a large number of films in detail and it is always interesting to see what he has to say, even when you disagree.
Book Description
A stunning gift book and indispensable collector's item, now available in paperback.
He was just twenty-nine years old and had beena recording artist for less than six years when he died on New Year's Day 1953. Yet the songs Hank Williams left behind-including "I Saw the Light," "Cold Cold Heart," "Your Cheatin' Heart"-transformed him into a legend whose influence is felt as strongly today as ever. But for all that Hank Williams's music seems to reveal, his fans have been given remarkably little of the man himself. Now Colin Escott and Kira Florita present a previously undiscovered wealth of private family snapshots, letters, unpublished interviews, and other ephemera-including his final lyric, found in the backseat of the car where he died. Most extraordinary, though, are the previously unseen handwritten lyrics-almost thirty songs altogether. In paperback for the first time, this is a windfall of memorabilia for his fans everywhere.
Customer Reviews:
Jett's Father & His Turbulent Short Life........2005-09-24
This is an adequate pictorial biography composed by Colin Escott And Kira Florita of Hiram (Hank) Williams, though he had left very little written context besides his songs. He was thirteen when his family moved to Montgomery, Alabama. When he was fifteen, he was tall and had a grown-man's voice. He was basically uneducated as his handwritten letters to his mother show. The teenage Hank wore glasses. His mother, Lillie, went along on some of his early performances. Her domestic life was troubled.
Hank and Audrey were happy in 1944 when they were in their twenties. But his mother intruded as she and Audrey did not get along. They divorced in May, 1948, but reconciled and Hank, Jr. was born exactly one year later. In Nashville, they had a fancy house on Franklin Road (which I used to drive by in the Seventies) during the time he appeared on the Grand Ole Opry.
The 'Hillbilly Hit Parade' of 1947 showed Eddy Arnold had two in the Top 10, "I'll Hold You in My Heart" and "It's a Sin." Jo Stafford, a pop singer had a duet of 'Timtayshun' at #6; she later recorded Hank's song, "Jambalaya." His song "Move It On Over" was recorded first by Cowboy Copus and was in the #2 spot. In 1947-48, he appeared on WLAC in Nashville; Bob Lobertini were there in various capacities fifteen years later. He sang on "Hillbilly Jamboree" on WCKY in Cincinnati, Nick Clooney's station. I miss him still.
Hank could mesmerize an audience with his personality and the way he sang. He had a spine operation at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville in December, 1951 -- a year before his death, requiring stronger and stronger pain medicines to enable him to perform.
In January, 1952, they divorced again and he took up with Bobbie Lett, a former dancer but working as a secretary when she gets pregnant with his child. She'd been a pretty girl, but was very sedate when he met her there in Nashville. She'd previously been married to Monte Hale of cowboy movie fame out in California.
In June of that year, he married his second wife, Billie Jean, from Shreveport, Louisiana. He was back where he started at the 'Louisiana Hayride' from September to December), but this time he was the star attraction. He was not my type of singer but I did like his "Kawliga, the wooden Indian" song.
"Lost Highway" is just one of the enormous amount of songs he recorded. You can find a discography of all of his records in the book, SING A SAD SONG by Roger M. Williams and Bob Pinson. A good accompaniment to these two are Bill Koon's SO LONESOME.
Hank didn't really have time to be lonesome, as the pictures show he always had many people around him and many who cared. He was only twenty-nine, same age as Justin, when he died. God Bless Him.
silent eloquence in photos of a hard life.......2005-08-12
very well edited and prepared. The photos say a lot. I thought there might be a bit more text, but that is probably for another Colin Escott book and I plan to buy it as well
Hank Williams " THE " Country & Western Legend.......2003-10-14
I have been an avid C&W fan since the late 40's;and although I have admired the many other great stars throughout the years ,none better defined this music than the the way Hank did. He did it all ,and in a large degree,by himself. In any area ,be it: songwriting,costumes,variety,gospel,heartbreak,lonlieness,love,inovation,tours,fighting the establishnent,personal life,longevity,an interresting personality,pop ularity,humility,you name it, he excelled and was the one who set the standard for the other stars to follow.I am sure most of them would agree.
If my memory serves me well ,Hank had several songs on the top 10 a year after his death; and we still see books like these coming out 50 years after his death. One can only imagine what he would have produced if he had lived a normal lifespan.
This book is excellent in every respect and also a great companion to Escott's other equally fine effort Hank Williams S - The Biography.If my memory serves me correctly,Hank had several songs in thev top 10 a year after his death and book of this quality still coming out 50 years after his death.
Thorough Portrait Of A Music Great.......2002-05-21
In assembling 1998's 10-CD The Complete Hank Williams, Kira Florita and Colin Escott found far more material than their box set's book could contain. As a result, they put together this book, a behind-the-scenes look to hold his devotees spell-bound.
Fans who've read Escott's biography Hank Williams will treasure the new material: an extensive collection of informal photos, long-sealed court depositions, the accounting ledger with the $30,000 payoff to his naïve teenaged bride Billie Jean to abandon her claim to his estate, etc.
Among the handwritten copies of 30 unpublished songs and song fragments ("I Wish I Had A Dad," "The Broken Marriage") is "Then Came That Fatal Day" found on the floor of the Cadillac where he died en route to a December 31, 1952, concert. The newly revealed lyrics capture his love-hate relationship with his first wife, Audrey. Meanwhile, a draft of "Cold Cold Heart" accompanies Hank's and Audrey's conflicting accounts as to whether it was "inspired" by an abortion.
Numerous details emerge in the book, like Billie Jean's humor, and Hank's problems with excess measures in song lines. Letters from his publisher/co-author/editor Fred Rose (a recovered alcoholic who tried to curb Hank's substance abuse) find Rose trying to help the volatile marriage to Audrey while - like many others - harshly assessing her.
Audrey, who died in 1975, was an ambitious woman who attempted plenty of spin on her exhusband's legend, but she was probably right in saying, "If some woman, equally as strong as I am, had not come along, there never would have been a Hank Williams. He did not want to live when I met him."
It's an intriguing cast of characters, which build upon the already colorful Hank Williams legend. Check it out today!
Hank's Hidden Treasures!.......2001-10-18
If it was 25 pages longer, I would have given "Snapshots" five stars! It's a wonderful treasure trove of fascinating, previously unseen photos, interviews, first person narratives and long-lost song lyrics. If you're a Hank Williams fan, you know what an impressive researcher is Colin Escott. His earlier bio of Hank stands as the most complete picture we're likely to have of a singer who, almost without fail, gave complete heart and soul in the recording studio. Finally, we have a book that attempts far more than a grim post-mortem on Hank's well-documented personal miseries. This is a celebration of Hank Williams: musician and performer. Wait until you see all the incredible photos of Hank and the Drifting Cowboys on stage, playing to excited, packed houses in places as far flung as San Jose and Ottawa. By all accounts, Hank was the most charismatic live performer of his time. Many of the hand-written scraps of unpublished song lyrics are very moving, especially "I Wish I Had A Dad." If only Hank had been given enough time to put the words to music and record them, his string of classic hits would have, without doubt, continued. I am not a starry-eyed admirer. I realize that Hank was abusive to his wives, often cruel and secretive. (By the way, photos here show what a teenaged knock-out was Hank's second wife, Billie Jean.) The "hillbilly Shakespeare" lived most of his brief adult life as a tortured, late-stage alcoholic. But "Snapshots" takes care to balance the picture, too. It depicts Hank Williams as millions of record-buying fans saw him: an enomorously gifted singer/songwriter and electrifying showman. I hope that Colin Escott and Kira Florita keep searching for hidden treasures: "More Snapshots From The Lost Highway" would be welcomed by this reader! Also needed is a single volume that details (as much as possible) all of Hank's live perfomances, TV and radio appearances, such as Mark Lewisohn's "Complete Beatles Chronicle" and the book on Elvis' live perfomances, "King On The Road." Please buy "Hank Williams: The Original Singles Collection...Plus" (CD), Escott's biography and "Snapshots From The Lost Highway." Escott and Florita are "settin' the woods on fire"!
Book Description
The real history of the musicians, songwriters, and producers who made country music the "Voice of America."
This is the definitive history of country music, the quintessential soundtrack of American life and the most popular music in the world today. Colin Escott, a Grammy award-winning music historian, writes vividly about the birth of country on the back porches in the hills and hollows of turn-of-the-century Appalachia; follows its westward swing into Texas; explores the Hollywood era of singing cowboys; charts the growth of the country music business in Nashville; and profiles the lives—often tragic and extreme—of many of its most famous downhome guitar pickers, fiddle players, lovestruck songsters, slick performers, and roughneck rebels. The book is laced with intimate interviews and stocked with rare photographs of country music idols and legends of both the studio and stage, including the Carter family, Jimmie Rodgers, Bill Monroe, Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Glen Campbell, Emmylou Harris, Charlie Pride, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Clint Black, and many others. Lost Highway is both a celebration of the strange, raw spirit of authentic country music and a critique of the bland, soulless product that often passes for country today. 50 color, 50 b/w photographs.
Amazon.com
A companion to the author's 1971 entrée to book publishing, Feel Like Going Home, Lost Highway reveals Peter Guralnick's growth as a chronicler of American roots music. Originally published eight years after Going Home, Lost Highway tills the same rich soil--the likes of Sun Records chief Sam Phillips, bluesman Howlin' Wolf, and dispirited countrypolitan star Charlie Rich resurface. But here Guralnick also explores the psyches and works of kindred spirits both celebrated (Elvis Presley and Merle Haggard) and obscure (rockabilly journeyman Sleepy LaBeef and the "world's oldest teenager," Rufus Thomas). Guralnick reveals a unifying hook: for each musician, touring has become "journey, arrival, process, definition, virtually replacing in almost every instance the very impetus that set them out on the road in the first place." The author has a knack for finding the insecurities entangled with the talents of his peripatetic idols--perhaps they feel more comfortable opening up to him, sensing he only seeks to understand how their anxiety affects their art. Regardless, you can't read Lost Highway without gaining a greater appreciation of the music that prompted its writing. --Steven Stolder
Book Description
A companion to the author's 1971 entr+e to book publishing, Feel Like Going Home, Lost Highway reveals Peter Guralnick's growth as a chronicler of American roots music. Originally published eight years after Going Home, Lost Highway tills the same rich soil--the likes of Sun Records chief Sam Phillips, bluesman Howlin' Wolf, and dispirited countrypolitan star Charlie Rich resurface. But here Guralnick also explores the psyches and works of kindred spirits both celebrated (Elvis Presley and Merle Haggard) and obscure (rockabilly journeyman Sleepy LaBeef and the "world's oldest teenager," Rufus Thomas). Guralnick reveals a unifying hook: for each musician, touring has become "journey, arrival, process, definition, virtually replacing in almost every instance the very impetus that set them out on the road in the first place." The author has a knack for finding the insecurities entangled with the talents of his peripatetic idols--perhaps they feel more comfortable opening up to him, sensing he only seeks to understand how their anxiety affects their art. Regardless, you can't read Lost Highway without gaining a greater appreciation of the music that prompted its writing. --Steven Stolder
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful Portraits.......2006-07-04
In his writing, Peter Guralnick has placed his own work in the mythology of American (roots) music. The portraits that make up this book are all written more than 10 years after the heyday of the people he is writing about. It's about people who are no longer the stars they were, though their legacy remains.
It's not a history book about roots music, for that you need to read others. It does give great portraits of the people involved, showing their feebles but still maintaining their mythological role in music.
Rebel music that gets an overly respectful treatment rendering it stale and moribund.......2006-03-05
Guralnick's first book, Feel Like Going Home, was a classic examination of the nature of American roots music. In it, he authentically captured the dirt, crudity and blue-collar abrasiveness that characterised the music that would eventally give birth to Rock 'n' Roll. However in Lost Highway, he fails to convey that renegade spirit and instead reduces the music and its participants to the level of the mudane. His problem is that he's too reverential in his approach and throughout the book the overriding impression is that this is "worthy" music that you're meant to respect though not necessarily enjoy. Lost Highway really feels like little more than a description of the current state of the bar band scene of the late-'70's when it should in fact have been a celebration of a series of iconoclastic individuals and the culture that spawned them.
To it's credit though, there is one glittering, transcendent moment. In the same way that the James Brown essay was the one shining beacon in Sweet Soul Music, the highlight here is the chapter on Elvis Presley, written just before his death and eerily prophetic. It's clear that Guralnick adores Presley and his enthusiasm propels the narrative, overcoming his respectfulness to generate an exquisite essay. It's a shame that he couldn't have let his true instincts dominate his writing more often.
Lost Highway often reminds me of those workplaces with a sign that says "you don't have to be crazy to work here but it helps" and yet absolutely no-one there is crazy in the slightest. Guralnick tries too hard to convince us of the purported craziness of many of the individuals, such as Jack Clement who simply comes across as a tedious loudmouth and nothing like this man-from-outer-space that Guralnick would like you to believe.
Ultimately, this book fails and a large part of the reason for that failure is for the same reasons that Rock n Roll / Pop etc has lost it's edge - namely that it's been around too long. Any art form that has existed for any reasonable period of time ceases to be a threat to established norms and simply ends up being as cosy and unthreatening as the very culture that it originally set out to replace. Lost Highway simply enhances the music's status as a static entity that exists solely in a waxified museum format.
Solid Overview Of Roots Music.......2004-05-10
From the Grand Ole Opry aristocracy to the smoky dives of Chicago, Peter Guralnick is our guide through this 1979 examination of what diverse streams have fed American popular music. In parts a celebration, in parts a eulogy, it makes for some fascinating reading.
Those who read and liked Guralnick's earlier, shorter "Feel Like Going Home" will enjoy this second trip to the well. There's calls paid on Rufus Thomas, "the world's oldest teenager" whose blues-centered dances led to some early-'60s chart success; on DeFord Bailey, a harmonica whiz who was the Opry's first major star until folks figured out he was black; Hank Williams Jr., who lives up to his Daddy's tall legacy with the help of artificial stimulants and his own sense of the blues; and Charlie Rich, who was last visited in "Feel Like Going Home" as something of a straggler but grew into one of the biggest country singers of the 1970s, not that we find him here feeling too happy about it.
The best writing in this collection comprises several chapters on Elvis Presley, who was still just barely alive when Guralnick wrote his first essay here in 1976 and just dead when he wrote his next right after. Elvis was the one guy Guralnick didn't talk to, but you feel his presence in interviews with his old guitarist Scotty Moore and former mentor Sam Phillips.
"He hit like a Pan-American flash, and the reverberations still linger from the shock of his arrival," Guralnick writes.
There's a lot of characters, and some seem more interesting for their uniqueness (Jack Clement, Charlie Feathers) while others seem like misses altogether (who was James Talley anyway, and why should we care?) But there's some arresting profiles of those who made it and those who didn't, plus a sense of what got them there.
"It has to be the only thing for you - the one thing in your life," says cowboy legend Ernest Tubb. Guralnick makes it all seem worth it, for a few hundred pages at least.
This aint no MTV.......2000-09-08
In Lost Highway, Peter Guralnick shows us some of the most unique, and largely unrecognized, figures in American music. His chapters on Charlie Feathers, who was there with Elvis, Carl, and Johnny in Sun Studios in the 50's, and Sleepy LaBeef, whose relentless touring machine, upon request, would serve up any hit ever recorded by anybody, are compassionate portraits of real people that never got the hits, the recognition, or the payday of their famous contemporaries. What you come away with after reading this book is a realization that Guralnick's subjects live and breathe 'the life'. It's what they do. As I read this book, I found myself wondering if Guralnick had selected his subjects to cover some broad spectrum of the American musical landscape, or if he just wanted to get face to face with his musical heroes, and writing a book about them was a cool way to make that happen. Whatever the reason, Guralnick's enthusiasm for American music and his abiding respect for its practitioners come through every page. His attention to the small things, whether flattering to his subjects or not, brings us in close, where frustrations, hopes, missed opportunities, and dreams are all there for us to see. This isn't MTV. It's not the Grammy's. It's blue collar, working stiff people, making their living playing the music they love. And because they are so much like us, their stories are wonderfully compelling.
An achingly beautiful book about life as a musician........1999-01-19
Peter Guralnick makes you realize how much it takes to be a musician. His portraits of the lives of country, blues, and rock musicians are so beautiful and yet so tragic. You finish the chapter on Bobby Bland filled with admiration for his conviction, yet saddened that what defines him as a human being can become such a grind. And you finish the chapters on artists you didn't know or care about--Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, Charlie Rich--filled with admiration, realizing that they loved and commited themselves to something that was as dear to them as it was to their fans, even when, as with Charlie Rich, it fell beneath their expectations. An almost indescribably beautiful book.
Customer Reviews:
Entertaining, illuminating, cogent.......2006-05-31
This is an excellent examination of David Lynch's "Lost Highway". It is absolutely crucial that one approaches this text with some background on a) Jacques Lacan or b) postmodern philosophy, specifically, Derrida and Baudrillard. If you are familiar with both, that's even better. When I read this book, I had a solid understanding of postmodernism, but a fairly tenuous grasp on Lacanian psychoanalysis, most of which was from Zizek's own "Enjoy Your Symptom! Jacques Lacan in Hollywood and Out". The book was perfectly understandable and cogent throughout, if you excuse the occasional digression. Without an understanding of Lacan or postmodernism, this book is sure to be difficult and obscure as many of the previous reviewers will attest. It is, however, by no means unclear or impenetrable. Zizek is perfectly lucid, IF you have the proper background. Don't expect him to explain Lacan in a 48 page paperback.
As for Zizek's reading of Lost Highway, you will ultimately decide for yourself. I found it illuminating. Sure, the Jungian reading fits really well, but isn't that a bit too easy? Lynch is operating on so many levels simultaneously, so why would he tell a simple story of soul transmigration? The Jungian reading ignores Lynch's other works, such as "Mulholland Drive" and "Blue Velvet". When one examines Lynch's oeuvre, Zizek's analysis begins to make more and more sense.
There are a couple noteworthy issues. Lost Highway, at times, feels more like a pretext for Zizek to offer yet another example of Lacanian psychoanalytical technique rather than a book devoted to Lynch's film. Is this a problem? Not necessarily. It depends on what you're looking for. One reviewer alleges that Zizek mixes up certain diegetic elements (mostly names and places). I did not find this to be true. I've seen Lost Highway at least ten times and I didn't notice any errors. Finally, the book itself is extremely brief. If you're hoping for a really in-depth examination, you may be disappointed. Overall, I found the book to be a very enjoyable, entertaining, and informative read.
Huh??.......2003-11-16
I'm a college graduate and I've been told I'm at least somewhat intelligent, but I have to admit I didn't get this book at all. I even did some research on Lacan and Zizek in hopes that would help, but I'm still lost. Better luck to anyone else, because this book did nothing to help me understand Lost Highway, Lynch, or Zizek. A waste of my time and money.
Ridiculous, but hardly sublime.......2003-11-10
Probably the most hilarious interpretation of David Lynch ever written, and I'm pretty interested in wondering how Lynch himself would feel if he noticed that his art has been hijacked by the post-modern academic elite. Actually, Martha Notchimson's "Passion of David Lynch" probably got Lynch down better than any of his critics, but to reduce her interpretations to New Agism is really just an exemplification of fringe criticism's dread of Jungian thought in the first place - not that Lynch is a Jungian, but he is all about transcendental meditation and reincarnation, and his pictures seem to have a similar spiritual center and energy. Zizek is extremely intelligent, but ultimately he's fishing for minnows while sitting on a whale. If you interpret Lynch in regards to a system (Lacanian for instance) instead of humanity, you end up with what Lynch would probably call "phoney baloney".
Intelligent but cockeyed.......2002-09-16
This is my first exposure to the work of Slavoj Zizek, but it probably will not be my last. Undeniably studied, Zizek is able to write with an unusual fusion of irreverent pop-cultural wit and stuffy intellectual jargon. That makes this breezy (43 page) study easy to read and profoundly deep at the same time. But don't mistake "profoundly deep" for "profoundly revealing" or "profoundly correct", as it is none of the above.
A self-proclaimed Lacanian, Zizek makes a case for an anti-Fruedian, anti-Jungian psychoanalytic interpretation of what is perhaps David Lynch's most obscure feature film since Eraserhead. As published on Amazon.com and elsewhere, I prefer a Jungian interpretation of Lost Highway, and for good reason: it fits extremely well. To deny this is to deny the evidence of one's own eyes.
All the same, Zizek's intellect is beyond dispute, and his reading of Lost Highway should be of great interest to film theorists and serious David Lynch fans alike.
A Hitchhiker's Guide to The Lost Highway.......2001-01-13
When I first saw "Lost Highway," I almost immediately dismissed it as far too unhinged and complex to analyize. It was at turns fascinating and familiar, then frustrating and detached. I was simply amazed at the ability of Lynch to create a narrative that seemed so disjointed, and yet oddly and strangely complete.
Slavoj Zizek however, has no trouble distilling the tale to what he believes are its basic elements. He views the tale through the lens of Jacques Lacan, (A Freudian revisionist.) He exhaustively discusses the implications of Fred's impotence and (possible) fantasy of violence and escape, and the construction of a fantasy that includes a virile version of himself, and a disjointededly evil "Father" figure in Mr. Eddy. He boils the tale down to the implications of such contructions and their inherent and necessary failure, because the very fears that call them into play tear them apart. (As seen by the re-introduction of dark haired Renee and Fred's Physical form in the second half of the film.)
He also addresses other aspects of the work, first, as the title suggests, he discusses this work as a film that addresses both a "known" reality, (the convoluted plot) and an ineffable, yet unconsciously addressable sort of hyper reality (the "Real" meaning behind the work.) He does this by exploring many themes, reducing them often to cliche's drawn from popular culture. He looks at Renee/Alice's role as femme fatale in a "neo-noir" setting, the issues of male construction of phallic fantasy and sexual objectivism, the role of ultimate evil and impossible beauty in the Lynch catalogue, and he finally hails Lost Highway as an example of what movies can become in the future, a sort of hypertexed jungle of possibilities and superimposed realities, where the viewer can control (or believe they can control,) the outcome of the film.
He really helped me appreciate the forces at play (whether they are intentionally placed there by the author or no,) in a film that I already thoroughly enjoyed. He lets me explore the aspects of this film that "Spoke" to me on a level that I could not previously express, and yet somehow I understood.
Finally, a word on the craft aspect of this book. This is less a paperback book than it is a pamphlet or portfolio. Nonetheless, the 40 pages of essay are meaty enough for several readings, and the issues covered will have you watching Lost Highway about eight more times, and getting more and more out of it as you pick up on moments in the plot that help you expound on Zizek's ideas. It is well worth the price, and easily accessable to the reader that has no knowledge of Freud or Lacan. Zizek is an outstanding writer. He does not insult his reader in an attempt to dumb his subject down, nor does he fill his prose with lengthy words that leave one scrambling for the dictionary.
Book Description
As her mother always said, nothing happens by coincidence . . .
Meet Rainey Valentine: thirty-five, twice divorced, a woman with broken dreams but irrepressible hope. When her mother dies, she inherits a truck, an old barrel-racing mare named Lulu and a lifetime supply of Mary Kay cosmetics. So taking a page from her mother's life, Rainey packs it all up and heads off, leaving Valentine, Oklahoma, in her rearview mirror.
Then, somewhere outside Abilene, she finds him. Dazed and wandering after a car accident, Harry Furneaux is a man as lost as she is. With nowhere else to go, he joins Rainey on her travels. But when their journey leads them back to Valentine, Harry and Rainey find an unexpected new direction . . .
Straight out of the heartland of the South, Lost Highways is a novel to gently rock the heart and soul . . . the story of a woman traveling too long on an endless stretch of lonesome road who finds her way home at last.
Customer Reviews:
Not just a fluffy romance novel..........2005-11-25
This was definitely a cut above the general "hot and steamy" vein of romance novels (Which I won't read)...The voice of our wonderful main character is full of doubts, wonder, insecurity, and overall goodness that makes this book what it is. She considers her actions, God, and reflects on what makes a person who they are today.
The plot is of course nothing extraordinary, but the details make it something special. As a horse owner, I appreciate the drama queens and emotion of the horseshow, and the rather suprisingly non-competitive nature of our Rainney.
This is a book I have read twice, and looking forward to reading other Matlock books.
Everything Curtiss Ann Matlock writes is gold!.......2000-08-07
Curtiss Ann Matlock writes sweet, warm, funny romances that speak directly to the heart with every word. This book is no exception. And I especially love the ghost of Mama in her white fringed barrel racing outfit.
This woman writes from the soul.......2000-07-16
I've only had the pleasure -- thus far -- of reading three of Curtiss Ann Matlock's books, but she is one of those authors whose books I literally snatch off the shelves when I see them. In LOST HIGHWAYS, as in both IF WISHES WERE HORSES and THE LOVES OF RUBY DEE, her prose is warm, witty, delightfully quirky, and thoroughly honest -- just like her characters. She allows her characters time not only the luxury of being human, but enough time to fall in love for the reader to not only enjoy the ride, but to accept, without a doubt, that the couple has made the right decision. Don't expect to find lots of "hot" lovescenes here, but rest assured you'll find a lovestory that'll just make you feel good about being a member of the crazy human race.
Sweet, sweet, sweet.............2000-02-09
This was such a soft-spoken SWEET romance. Not sugary, just lovely. Curtiss Anne Matlock is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. In this story Harry Furneaux,a discouraged and depressed doctor, meets Rainey Valentine, a horse barrel racer. He is enchanted by this delightful sprite of a creature, who seems to solve all of the world's problems by waving her magic wand full of practical, sage advice and deep caring attitude. She is terrified to fall in love again (she's been divorced twice) but Harry's slow, soft romancing finally wears her down and she learns to trust again. This was a truly delightful novel - you'll really enjoy it. Try my other two favourites by Matlock - Heaven in Texas and If Wishes were Horses.
a delightful gem of a romance.......2000-02-04
In her mid-thirties, Rainey Valentine's heart is breaking. All alone for the first time in her life since her beloved mother died unexpectedly from heart failure, Rainey's life just hasn't been complete. Though she has two siblings and a father, and has been unhappily married and divorced twice, Mama was the one person Rainey felt closest to in her whole life. Grieving, Rainey decides to flee her Oklahoma hometown with the inheritance Mama left her; her aging barrel-racing horse, an old truck and horse trailer, and a lifetime's supply of Mary Kay cosmetics. She coaxes the old horse into the trailer and drives to Texas to join the barrel racing circuit. Late one night, on her way to Childress, Texas, Rainey almost runs over a man wandering down the side of the road. She offers the unfortunate Harry Furneaux a ride to the next town, seeing as he'd been injured and his car totaled in an accident. He accepts, and soon becomes her driving companion. As Rainey and Harry go down the endless highway seeking self worth, they begin to fall in love. However Harry is running from his own troubled past, grieving a departed life in his own way. Can these two lost souls connect to find happiness with each other. "LOST HIGHWAYS" by Curtiss Ann Matlock, is a reflective look inside two individuals whose spirits are drifting to nowhere. Harry and Rainey each are struggling to understand the lives they have lost, and desperately trying to find a future worth living for. However, their caring and kindness for each other and the people they meet on the road begin the healing process. In her wise and gentle way with words, Curtiss Ann Matlock's emotional and meaningful story line leaves readers with the message that everyone needs someone to love them and for them to love. I enjoy the fact that she can convey a sense of passion and sensuality between her characters without having them fall into bed every other page. This is a woman who knows what the meaning of real love is.
Curtiss Ann Matlock waits entirely too long between books to share her delightful gems of romance with her public but, as with all good things, they are worth waiting for.
Customer Reviews:
for Lynch fans only.......2005-09-16
The 5 star ratings could only have come from hardcore Lynch fans. This movie is absolutely unwatchable from start to finish. I am a longtime student of film, but have absolutely no clue what this movie is about. I challenge anyone who is not a lynch fan to comprehend this film. I have enjoyed most of Lynch's past work, but in lost highway I get the impression that he was trying too hard.
It's about David Lynch, and it's good........2003-01-20
It's about the greatest artist of any time, so the book couldn't possibly be bad. It's very well worth the purchase. It's also hard to get, so buy it while you still can.
It's about David Lynch, and it's good........2003-01-20
It's about the greatest artist of any time, so the book couldn't possibly be bad. It's very well worth the purchase. It's also hard to get, so buy it while you still can.
Overlooked Masterpiece.......2000-08-22
Though Elephant Man, Blue Velvet, and Mulholland Drive were all nominated for Oscars, Lost Highway, in many respects, stands as THE standard for Lynch films. Through its use of highly stimulating visuals, intriguing plot, abstract characterization, and philosophical, as well as psychological, insight, this work stands as, not only as one of Lynch's best, but one of the best filmatic achievements in the latter part of the 20th century. The film was immensely cut, however the script is here in its entirety. The script clarifies a lot of the lose ends of the visual work. A must-have for any Lynch fan.
Lynch is the master.......1999-04-13
It can be a 2.5 hour movie or a 150 page book , but nothing compared with the amount of time that ideas and concepts of "Lost Highway" will be in your head , the general idea will be personal , that's Lynch , the individual-idea-developer.Excellent!!!
Book Description
Dear Reader,
Some folks say Route 66 no longer exists. But for those of us who love the old highway that "winds from Chicago to L.A.," it is more alive, more meaningful, and more romantic today than it has ever been. In much the same way, sometimes a couple believes that a relationship has faded away, only to discover that the adventure and romance have just begun ...
- Annie
As teens, Teague Blackwell and Wendie Keith starred in a popular television show, The Lost Romance Ranch. It was on the set that they first met,
on the set that they first fell in love, and on the set that the two exchanged marriage vows. Fifteen years later, the show's title has taken on even greater meaning. For now Teague and Wendie are separated, with every intention
of splitting up for good.
Their plans, however, are not unfolding as they'd expected. These days, there's talk of a reunion for the characters on the show. Could a reconciliation for Teague and Wendie be in the script as well?
Customer Reviews:
Putting a marriage together again........2000-07-12
Wendie Keith and Teague Blackwell had met on the set of the oldtelevision series, THE LOST ROMANCE RANCH, and fell in love.... As the couple drive on Route 66, they must learn to trust in each other and God.
This type of romance will appeal to everyone, even readers who don't normally read "inspirational" fiction. God and religion are a part of Teague and Wendie's lives, there is no heavy handed preaching. The Blackwells are normal people with common problems, not saints. This is the first Annie Jones book I have read, but it won't be the last.
Perfect summer reading!.......2000-06-08
Great fun, good message and just enough about Route 66 to make one nostalgic for the glory days of tacky specialty stores and tourist sites. The romance was snappy and sharp not sappy and sweet. I loved the characters and the feel good ending that tied all three of the books in the series together. This book and the others in Jones's Route 66 comedy series are perfect summer reads - great for the arm chair travaler and the beachside dreamer.
Books:
- Secondhand Bride (McKettrick Cowboys Trilogy #3)
- Stealing the Network: How to Own a Shadow (Stealing the Network) (Stealing the Network)
- The China Dream: The Quest for the Last Great Untapped Market on Earth
- The Couple's Guide to In Vitro Fertilization: Everything You Need to Know to Maximize Your Chances of Success
- The Duke's Indiscretion (Avon Romantic Treasure)
- The Friday Night Knitting Club
- The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos: Humanity and the New Story
- The Hidden Messages in Water
- The Holy Longing: The Search for A Christian Spirituality
- The Lady Killer (Berkley Sensation)
Books Index
Books Home
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General | United States | Travel | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Here It Is! The Route 66 Map Series
Route 66: The Mother Road 75th Anniversary Edition
Lost America: The Abandoned Roadside West
Route 66 Adventure Handbook: Updated and Expanded Third Edition (Route 66 Series)
Route 66: EZ66 Guide for Travelers
![Lost Highway [IMPORT]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000060MWU.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
