(as one of its cast reflects midway through), "by absurd characters, dead ends and half truths" that tumbles "toward a punch-line that would seem inevitable with hindsight". It positively brims with outlandish, hilarious and moving (if occasionally hokey) tales. Literally "every name's got a story" and by jingo Neate delights in spinning each part of his yarn. Roaming through the black slums and early jazz joints of the Louisiana bayou to Africa, London, New York, Chicago and New Orleans at the end of the 20th century, his vista is extraordinary. There's Tongo Kalulu, the chief of the Zimindo, a proud African tribe, who, confused by his wife and enraptured by an attractive female American archaeologist, seeks the advice of Musa, his sex-obsessed witch doctor. There's Sylvia di Napoli, a "coffee-coloured" retired London prostitute, who has travelled to America in the hope of discovering her real father¹s identity. Also along for the ride is Jim Tulloch, a scruffy, big-hearted young Englishman half her age. Gluing these seemingly disparate elements together is the tragic love story of Fortis James "Lick" Holden, a long forgotten Louisiana jazzman who allegedly taught Louis "Dipper" Armstrong the "meanin' of the word hot" and Sylvie Black, his prostitute "sister (who wasn't no blood relation)". Chock full of jazz, poverty, sex and death, this enjoyable novel jives to a note-perfect if predictable ending, dispensing intelligent critiques of racism and sexism along the way. --Travis Elborough
Advantages: Entertaining, Interesting, Compelling, A film to go with it, Disadvantages: Gory, Anti Black, gay, women
...It has caused a huge controversy where ever it was released, and it's not suprising with a death count of 14 and elaborate murder scenes which are enough to put you off red food for weeks...
It tells the story of Patrick Bateman, a New York Wall Street worker who in one life works during the day, dines at new high class restaurants, washes his face with hundreds of tonics and has a wardrobe more fashionable than any model, but in another life is a cold hearted, racist, homophobic, sexist, serial killer.
That may sound a bit too much for some people to take in, but it is all cleverly placed together. The story is told through the eyes of Patrick Bateman, and so through what he says you come to accept his view on everything, and you get used to his obsessions with style, neatness, cocaine, "hardbodies" (good looking women...
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Advantages: Informative, comprehensive, readable Disadvantages: Not enough photos
...Having been interested in Mars exploration for some time, I bought "Patrick Moore on Mars" as soon as I saw it. The book is a good source of information and, being written in Moore's chatty style is easy to read.
The book covers the ancient's beliefs about Mars through to the discovery of the telescope and early observations, to the space age.
The book is quite up to date and includes data from Mars Global Surveyer and Mars Pathfinder.
The discussion on life on Mars is quite informed yet pessimistic.
Two gripes: There are not enough colour photos, and Moore's insistence on sharing his sketches of Mars is slightly irritating....
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helpful 27.07.2000
JUJU MUSIC Review ofTwelve Bar Blues - PatrickNeateby
Mauri
Advantages: Fun, moving, hard to put down Disadvantages: None
...best friend a dope smoking sex obsessed witchdoctor named Musa.
The glue that binds the narratives together is music more specifically Jazz.
Neate is an engaging writer and manages to adapt his style to suit each of the different scenarios he explores. When writing about Lick and his family in the roughest black neighbourhood of New Orleans Cooltown, his writing is dynamic, almost electric. This is a place populated by larger than life characters, fearsome knife wielding prostitutes, petty criminals, drunks and drug addicts all frequenting the low life honky-tonk bars of New Orleans. This is the time when Jazz was born and musicians like Lick first saw music as a way of freeing themselves from their circumstances. A time of a young Lou Armstrong, King Oliver and other Jazz legends. Music could lift people's spirits and for a short time...
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12.08.2000
27.07.2000
21.11.2005
