The Virgin Encyclopedia of Indie & New Wave (Virgin Encyclopedias of Popular Music Series)

Customer Reviews:

Hope the 2nd edition fixes the many mistakes of the 1st.......1999-01-08

This volume of Virgin's mamoth collection is the one they should have paid most attention, but unfortunately it is plagued with errors, to the point where I started to question if they checked the facts before the book went to print. Following the music scene in the 90s require a lot of energy because of the many trends that pop-up by the minute, hence I would consider this volume to be the most dauting task within the whole series.

The Virgin Encyclopedia of the Blues (Virgin Encyclopedias of Popular Music)

Average customer rating:

Interesting and yet disappointing format for reference book
"Blues" encyclopedia for pop/rock lovers
Horrible Blues Reference Book

The Virgin Encyclopedia of the Blues (Virgin Encyclopedias of Popular Music)

Manufacturer: Virgin Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Music | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0753502267

Customer Reviews:

Interesting and yet disappointing format for reference book.......1999-08-19

I was given this tome by a friend for Christmas and was thrilled to have such useful book(or so I thought at the time) but was dismayed at the star ratings dished out at the end of each entry to the various discs,albums etc.. I dislike gurus of taste, fashion, music ,politics and this is no exeption. (Brown may be the 'new' black but it still looks dreadful on me.) and so many others reading this book may have the same thoughts about this degrading format used by the author / editor. Music like other art forms is all a matter of individual taste and when two or more like and enjoy the same or similar genre,artist(s) sound ,production then that is good for the music /art form and business but when some one stands up or even writes what is good or not so good - even bad then that is only his opinion and should remain so. Not wishing to remain on the negative side of this book I have to say it has been excellent as a reference book on numerous occassions - especially competition time in the Blues mags I take and when friends not into the blues as much as myself require info on someone. A few months further down the road from receiving the book I now have other excellent even superior reference books to hand and advanced to the odd biography or two on blues men and women. It was a useful 'starter' book for my interest in books on the blues.

"Blues" encyclopedia for pop/rock lovers.......1999-08-03

If you're a "bluesnatic" and what to get mad by reading some unbelievable cd ratings (and if you don't know where to spend your money), buy this book now! Three examples (it would be too painful to quote more): Robert Nighthawk's "Live on Maxwell Street is rated 3/5; Paul Butterfield's Blues Band's "Original Lost Elektra Sessions" gets 2/5. The only John Lee Hooker album to get 5 stars is "The Healer", which would be appropriate in a "Pop" encyclopedia, but is almost offensive in a "Blues" encyclopedia. Just compare these ratings with the reviews on AMG Music Guide Online.

In many cases, poor discographies.

Horrible Blues Reference Book.......1998-11-02

Avoid this one at all costs. While the artist biographies are O.K. no information that may have been learned is added --especially on the obscure artists. Futhermore this book is full of offensive CD ratings and the editor is clearly enamored with British blues stars! In addition, it is formatted to save pages (money) so it is very hard to read. Also, many artists are not even mentioned.

In the beginning of the book they talk about the one "*" thru five "*****" star ratings and indicate that while a four star is an excellent CD and "highly recommended," a five star is "OUTSTANDING in every way" and therfore essential to any music collection.

Well frankly, the couple of examples below speak for themselves. I have all of these recordings in one form or another and strongly disagree with every last rating. Avoid this this one and pick up the AMG guide instead.

Examples:

Them - The World Of Them ***** Bobby "Blue" Bland - I Pity The Fool: The Duke Recordings Vol. 1 ***

Chicken Shack - Forty Blue Fingers Freshly Packed And Ready To Serve **** Lowell Fulson - San Francisco Blues ***

Groundhogs - Split **** Lightnin' Hopkins - Complete Aladin ****

John Mayall - Bare Wires ***** Johnny Littlejohn & The Chicago Blues Allstars *** Walter Horton - Mouth Harp Maestro *** Howlin' Wolf - Memphis Days Vol. 1 and 2 ***

Savoy Brown - Blue Matter **** Robert Nighthawk - Live On Maxwell Street *** Otis Rush - Cobra Recordings (not even mentioned) Tampa Red - Guitar Wizard ***

Amazon.com

Clear a spot next to the stereo system for this book. Culled from an original edition of six volumes, The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music boasts a million words devoted exclusively to pop music in all its glorious incarnations. With this book next to the CD collection, readers are virtually guaranteed to be able to answer all manner of niggling questions like the name of the Bangles' first album or Ira Gershwin's birth date. Album and video information along with suggested bibliographies accompany descriptions of music by the likes of Boy George, The Pet Shop Boys, Jimmy Boy, and Boy's Own, as well as thousands of other musical boys and girls. The force of the information in this hefty volume is twofold--the sheer amount of it and its evenhandedness. One hit wonders that have practically faded into oblivion are treated with the same depth of coverage as Goliaths like Elvis and the Rolling Stones. And with its objective tone, readers are free from the writers' opinions about a given band or performer and left to interpret the facts on their own.

Book Description

With over 2 million words, this essential reference source will answer all your questions on any aspect of twentieth-century popular music. Now in its fourth edition, this concise edition of the groundbreaking Encyclopedia of Popular Music has been completely revised and updated. Artists such as Eminem and Limp Bizkit are among the 384 new entries. The inclusion of others whose work has failed to stand the test of time has been re-assessed and tributes have been made to the careers of those who have recently died. Completely revised and updated for the Fourth Edition One edition that is compact, portable and accessible.

Customer Reviews:

A treasure trove of information.......2003-02-02

This all-encompassing volume has about 3,300 entries covering various musical styles of the past century, but with the focus on pop and rock. In the introduction, the author points out that he had to choose from over 20,000 entries in his database - and he is planning to double the size of that database. Unlike so many books of this type, there are no pictures, allowing all the available space to be used for information.

Obviously, this book can only cover a selection and cannot please everybody. However, a series of specialist volumes is available, so anybody wanting to focus on jazz, country, heavy metal, sixties, seventies or any of several other genres can find a book covering their particular interest. The author says that you can find artists in these specialist books for which there is no room here. Even so, there are a staggering number of obscure singers and bands here.

Once you focus on who is in this book rather than who isn't, it is quite impressive. The book I am reviewing is the fourth edition, so any errors that existed in earlier editions have hopefully been corrected. Each entry contains basic details about the singer or band, their music and the author's opinions, plus a brief discography. Again, this discography is deliberately limited. The idea is to provide an introduction to music that is new to you, so the emphasis is on stuff that was readily available at the time book went to press. Fans of a particular singer or band must look elsewhere to track down all the rarities.

My tastes in music are wide, but while my knowledge is extensive, there is a lot I don't know, even about my favorite genres. A book like this is invaluable to me. It is certainly the best book of its kind that I've come across.

A must have for music collectors.......2001-08-16

Colin Larkin is a godsend for music collectors. After picking up his excellent guides to Indie and Eighties music, I managed to find this behemoth - and was delighted once again.

This volume is the perfect reference for anyone from the casual music fan to the serious collector. Unsure of which album to buy from an artist you've heard all about? Want more background on a favourite band? Curious as to how your favourite albums have been rated? Pour through this volume - it has all the answers you need.

With two diehard music fans in the same house, you can bet that Larkin's books are never far from hand. Something is forever being looked up - and the information this volume provides is more than worth the price.

While I'm sure there are some bands that have not been included, I have yet to fail in finding the information I needed in one of the volumes - and the entries are always honest and objective. And of course, it has become a challenge to pick up every one of the rare and elusive "five star albums."

If you're looking for the ultimate music reference book, your search is over. You're here.

Why Would Anyone Care Whether "The Outfield" Was In It?.......2000-03-18

The Outfield only had one good song - "Josie's On a Vacation Far Away" then they vanished back into the Great White North from whence they came. They're about as important as Kajagoogoo, M and The Hooters.

virgin popular music.......2000-02-14

this is the best book about music i have ever read. buy it

ASTONISHING !.......2000-01-11

I was astonished when I found this book in a bookstore here in Brazil. I had never heard of this famous series and bought it at once. It contains thousands of entries and, of course, a lot of bands were left out, due to the enormity of the task. Great job by Colin Larkin. I recommend it to anyone who wants to know generally about music.

The Virgin Encyclopedia of 60's Music (The Virgin Encyclopedia)

Average customer rating:

Exhaustive but spotty.
Virgin Encylopedia of 50's music
Wish I knew How Good This Book is...
This one's great!

The Virgin Encyclopedia of 60's Music (The Virgin Encyclopedia)

Manufacturer: Virgin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1852279338

Book Description

Published for the first time in hard cover this invaluable handbook contains 1000 entries taken from the Encyclopedia of Popular Music, offering an insight into the 60s -- the most analyzed yet least understood decade in the history of popular music. It includes every artist who had a significant impact on the development of rock and pop music in those ten years, from the Beatles-led invasion of America to the States' own pop aristocracy of Phil Spector and the Beach Boys, from the rise of Motown to the arrival of psychedelia and the Summer of Love. A perfect mix of fact and informed opinion contained in one single volume. Covers the essential elements -- dates, career facts, discography, album ratings plus a sense of context for each artist.

Customer Reviews:

Exhaustive but spotty........2007-01-09

Not a bad endeavor indeed, to try to list as many noteworthy perfomers during the 60's. You do get the popular entertainers like Elvis, Beatles, etc., but, considering that this book was written in the UK, many USA performers did not make the grade, so the reader on some of those who did make it to the pages included here will not get any new information.
Of those performers who are included, and are familiar to the USA, the information is at times spotty and incorrect. The lack of pictures for the many that are not familiar or had one hit then went missing on the Pop Charts would have been a bonus, since we all pretty much know who the Beatles are by now.
So, overall i was impressed with the many entries concerning pop music from the UK's point of view, i was not impressed by the omissions. Considering the popularity of country music in the UK that was imported from the US, not many were mentioned here.
Another thing, and to those who were young enough to remember, tho our country had a 'British Invasion', the UK also had an 'USA' invasion, when Motown, Girl Groups and Garage Bands were imported and saw many hits there.

Virgin Encylopedia of 50's music.......2005-11-28

Hi everybody, First of all I am not reviewing the book as such but I thought that I just had to write and thank you for your great service. I ordered the above book plus the 60's Encyclopedia and yes I did pay extra postage but I placed my order at Mid day [UK] time on friday the 25th November 2005 and received both Items at Mid Day [UK]time on Monday the 28th November 2005. I would not have got them this quick if I had ordered them from a UK source which of course I could not have done because they are out of print over here. Great work Guys Many thanks Stuart Jones UK.

Wish I knew How Good This Book is..........2004-01-04

I would love to be able to review this book, but... Amazon (Still!!!) shows this as shipping within 24 hours. Don't believe it, I've been waiting since November and have approved numerous delays, just today I approved another. Just so you know, this book takes 2 months to ship (minimum!), and I still don't know when I'll get it. By the way, same deal for the Encyclopedia of 70s Music.

Amazon, it is time to be honest to your patrons, change the estimated shipping date to something realistic!

This one's great!.......2000-11-22

This is easily the best 60's music reference book.It covers all the obvious supergroups,but also the one-hit wonders & even some of the obscure garage/psychedelic groups.You can disagree with the star ratings for each records,but the reviewer tries to be objective & it's really useful for the casual user.Of course the reviews are a summary(how many pages would be enough to cover the Beatles or the Stones?) & the emphasis is in mainstream groups,so it's not enough for the serious 60's collectors (try "a tapestry of delights" for great lost U.K. gems or "fuzz,acid & flowers" for the U.S.A. scene),but for most music lovers,this is a must!

Average customer rating:

A pretty good book, but with some flaws

The Virgin Encyclopedia of 50's Music

Manufacturer: Virgin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1852279370

Book Description

Published for the first time in hard cover this is the essential guide to the decade that spawned rock'n'roll and saw popular music set out on its path to becoming one of the dominant forces of post-war culture. It includes every artist who was quintessential to the decade -- both those who had a significant impact on the development of popular music and those who flourished briefly. 1000 entries distilled from the Encyclopedia of Popular Music, universally acclaimed as the world's leading source of reference on rock and pop history Covers the essential elements -- dates, career facts, discography, album ratings plus a sense of context for each artist.

Customer Reviews:

A pretty good book, but with some flaws.......2007-05-27

This book is a good source of information about 1950s music, but I would hesitate to call it "excellent." One of the problems is that in the preface the author admits that (in order to track down possible plagiarists) he has deliberately incorporated errors in the book; I do not know whether the errors I have spotted so far are this sort of deliberate error or are simply the sort of errors that often creep into this kind of book. For example, twice in the book, in an article on Billy Vaughn and in one on the Hilltoppers, Vaughn's year of birth is mis-stated as 1931 (the correct year is 1919), and an article on the Dream Weavers gives Gene Adkinson's name as "Atkinson." This does give me the feeling that I'd never use this book to settle a bet.

It sometimes seems puzzling what criteria determine an artist's worthiness for inclusion in this book. For example (just sticking to artists I _like_, so that my own personal preferences do not color my opinions!) Gale Storm is hardly more important than Joni James among female singers in the 1950s, and the Dream Weavers certainly did not have the importance of the Gaylords among vocal groups, but in each case, the first of the pair has an article and the second does not.

One thing I _do_ like is that British stars as well as American are covered; this gives me a lot of information about British vocalists I have only recently discovered as well as about Americans I grew up listening to.

In short, the book is recommended, but with some serious caveats.

The Virgin Encyclopedia of Country Music (Virgin Encyclopedias of Popular Music Series)

Average customer rating:

The Virgin Encyclopedia of Country Music (Virgin Encyclopedias of Popular Music Series)

Manufacturer: Virgin Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

Music | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0753502364

The Virgin Encyclopedia of Dance Music (Virgin Encyclopedias of Popular Music)

Average customer rating:

Concise

The Virgin Encyclopedia of Dance Music (Virgin Encyclopedias of Popular Music)

Manufacturer: Virgin Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Music | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0753502526

Customer Reviews:

Concise.......2000-08-20

If you're unfamiliar with the dance scene but wish to familiarize yourself with its history, this is a very useful resource. This encyclopedia briefly chronicles the history of hundreds of djs and the like.

Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music (Virgin Encyclopedias of Popular Music Series)

Average customer rating:

Disappointing
Eighties fans, this book is for you!

Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music (Virgin Encyclopedias of Popular Music Series)

Manufacturer: Virgin Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

Music | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0753501597

Amazon.com

Finally, a Virginal take on the decade defined by rubber bracelets, neon clothing, asymmetrical hair, and Ronald Reagan. Colin Larkin sets up few barriers to entry--if it's musical and it happened during the '80s, it's in. He places, for example, enduring legends such as Prince--before the diminutive one chucked his name--and Madonna alongside such colleagues as Flock of Seagulls and Men Without Hats. Each artist or group merits a sound synopsis, biographical information, and a list of albums as well as a videography and bibliography where applicable. Larkin and his contributing writers are careful not to let their views interfere with readers' nostalgia trips as they pick and pluck their way through a musical era typified by extremes. Some of the decade's peaks include the first rap recording and the debut of MTV, while Debbie Gibson's "Electric Youth" and Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now" arguably represent its valleys. Or is it the other way around? Whether you delight in '80s music or rue the fact that you can't get "Friday I'm in Love" out of your head, this volume is an essential reference. --Jordana Moskowitz

Customer Reviews:

Disappointing.......2004-07-11

I had high expectations for this book which it just doesn't come close to achieving. The information on the musicians inside is rather basic and nothing you probably won't already know if you are a fan of any of them. There are no pictures at all inside and the text is written in a rather boring way. I had hoped to be able to look up songs or movie soundtrack albums in the index and see who actually sang them so I could order them on Amazon or somewhere but only artists are listed in the index and the book does not contain soundtrack albums at all. A very poor effort of what could have been a great and handy beneficial reference tool.

Eighties fans, this book is for you!.......1999-03-18

If your a NewWave fan I recommend this instead of "Virgin Encyclopedia for Indie and New Wave" which is a much weaker reference than this. "Eighties Music" contains useful, if occasionally biased, reviews of many of the greatest bands, as well as smaller bands, of the 80s. Entries are occasionally very insightful, like the XTC entry. As a major NewWave/80s fan, I heartily recommend this book.

The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music (Encyclopedia)

Average customer rating:

The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music (Encyclopedia)

Manufacturer: Virgin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Music | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0753504278

The Virgin Encyclopedia of R&B and Soul (Virgin Encyclopedias of Popular Music)

Average customer rating:

A Poor Book Badly Edited
Not perfect but pretty good.

The Virgin Encyclopedia of R&B and Soul (Virgin Encyclopedias of Popular Music)
Colin Larkin
Manufacturer: Virgin Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Music | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0753502410

Customer Reviews:

A Poor Book Badly Edited.......2004-07-02

Where do I start? I'll start with a positive. This was a brave idea badly let down by poor editing and poor presentation. I had bought this book because I needn't a reliable guide to these forms of music.So why did I give the book away shortly after buying it? Its full of errors. An example would be the entry for Archie Bell & The Drells - This book states that Drell recorded for Ovid; He actually recorded for Ovide. There is no mention of thefact that many of his early records were in fact, recorded using the TSU Tornados, mainly 'cos Archie was away in Vietnam. This may seem minor but the book is littered with other errors. The editor has also taken the easy option whereever possible. Thus we get a long, dull entry for Micheal Jackson, a singer who has made few R&B or Soul records but no entry whatsoever for Donald Height, now an obscure figure but an artist who recorded throughout the sixties until 1975. I'll finish with two further points as I 'm writing this as a warning. There were no pictures in my edition making it hard on the eye and the editor has a quite ridiculous policy of inserting deliberate errors (So he says anyway) to warn people off plagarism. Thus you get part discographies with wrong album information. I'm sorry but if I'm to spend my hard earned money I expect far better than this shoddy exercise in popularism.

Not perfect but pretty good........1999-10-10

The compiler has not axes to grind and seems to treat everyone reasonably and fairly.

It is a bit weird to find Jimmy Jam under his first name (ditto L.A. Reid). It would also be a bit handier if mentions of folks who have entries were highlighted in some fashion when they are mentioned elsewhere.

A few (doubtlessly accidental) omissions aside it is pretty comprehensive. I'd like to see more coverage of produces and entries discussing styles but of the books of this sort I've bought this is the most useful.

Average customer rating:

Thought-provoking and perhaps convincing, though with some weak points

A Quest for Complexity

Keeping It Unreal

Tempted to give it one star.

Intelligent look on a contraversal subject

Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation Of Language And Music And Why We Should, Like, Care

Manufacturer: Amazon Remainders Account
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Similar Items:

The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language

Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in Black America

Winning the Race: Beyond the Crisis in Black America

Word on the Street: Debunking the Myth of "Pure" Standard English

Authentically Black

ASIN: B000BTH4L8

Book Description

A rousing polemic in defense of the written word by the New York Times bestselling author of Losing the Race and the widely acclaimed history of language The Power of Babel.

Critically acclaimed linguist John McWhorter has devoted his career to exploring the evolution of language. He has often argued that language change is inevitable and in general culturally neutral-languages change rapidly even in indigenous cultures where traditions perpetuate; and among modernized peoples, culture endures despite linguistic shifts. But in his provocative new book, Doing Our Own Thing, McWhorter draws the line when it comes to how cultural change is turning the English language upside down in America today, and how public English is being overwhelmed by street English, with serious consequences for our writing, our music, and our society.

McWhorter explores the triumph of casual over formal speech-particularly since the dawn of 1960s counterculture-and its effect on Americans' ability to write, read, critique, argue, and imagine. In the face of this growing rift between written English and spoken English, the intricate vocabularies and syntactic roadmaps of our language appear to be slipping away, eroding our intellectual and artistic capacities. He argues that "our increasing alienation from 'written language' signals a gutting of our intellectual powers, our self-regard as a nation, and thus our very substance as a people."
Timely, thought-provoking, and compellingly written, Doing Our Own Thing is sure to stoke many debates about the fate of our threatened intellectual culture, and the destiny of our democracy.
Customer Reviews:

Thought-provoking and perhaps convincing, though with some weak points.......2007-07-05
John McWhorter has long had a double identity. As a professor of linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley, he's written on the evolution of languages over time (THE POWER OF BABEL) and on English dialectology (WORD ON THE STREET). But he's also a cultural commentator, until recently directing his attention to the issues facing African-Americans (LOSING THE RACE and AUTHENTICALLY BLACK). In DOING OUR OWN THING: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should, Like, Care he combines his two interests. McWhorter claims that there's indeed a real problem with the English that we hear today in the media and from our politics, and the English we read in popular literature.

McWhorter, like all reputable linguists, will readily state that all languages are essentially equal in that they serve the basic needs of their bodies of speakers. His argument is not that English is going downhill in a way that is reducing people to unintelligent brutes who can't get their message across. No, McWhorter believes that the decline of oratorical skills and literary flair is simply depriving English-speaking culture of some beauty that people could enjoy. He pairs letters from grade-school dropouts of the 1800s with newspaper articles by professional journalists of today to show that, yes, in days of yore people used to appreciate the skill they could display in writing elegant prose, and everyone was capable of giving it a go. He puts the Gettysburg Address next to what a professional speechwriter prepared for President Bush to show that nowadays our politicians provide uninspiring and half-hearted explanations of their motivations and goals. English in the public sphere, McWhorter claims, is lame.

McWhorter has no problem with people on the street talking like they are wont to. He notes that the civil engineer of a century ago who wrote a lovely letter to his sweetheart likely used much coarser language on the job with his construction men. But there should be a place for linguistic virtuosity. Great literature, which is the very exploitation of a language's possibilities, is today rarely encountered in the mainstream media. Poetry is replaced by the Spoken Word, where there's little elegance or artfullness in the construction, just rants against the Man. Indeed, McWhorter traces much of the downhill trend to the 1960s, when the rebellion against authorities tragically entailed a rejection of fine arts, which was mistakenly seen as elitist.

McWhorter extends the argument to music, feeling that popular music today concentrates on rhythm at the expense of other parameters of music. Compare a rap song to a fine jazz tune from half a century ago: once upon a time popular music was rich. This extension is reasonable, but the musical portion of the book is so slim that it seems an after-thought; would that he have fleshed it out a bit. I'm also not sure I buy McWhorter's assertion that English-speaking cultures are the only ones neglecting linguistic virtuosity. Sure, there are cultures out there where speaking eloquently still elicits wonder, but things like poetry are dead in lots of places. Just as the average Dane if he knows who Pia Tafdrup or Ole Sarvig are, or the average Japanese young person if he'd prefer to put down his manga and enjoy some Kawabata instead. The trend may have started in the United States, fount of much international popular culture, but all developed societies are going post-literary.

I am a graduate student of linguistics because I love the diversity of human speech. I am fascinated by the rainbow of languages on Earth, and how within each there is a lively array of registers. But in English, as well as various other languages I speak, things are getting awfully monochromatic and the spice is gone. With DOING OUR OWN THING McWhorter might not be able to stop this massive trend, but it's admirable that he notices there's a problem, and the book is sure to be thought-provoking for the lovers of language, literature, and fine music among us.
A Quest for Complexity.......2005-10-28
Through tracing the simplification of American speech and music over the last century (in some cases, longer), McWhorter demonstrates the loss of complexity, and with it, a love for the English (American) language. Showing his own ambivalence about, or possibly seduction by, this simplification, McWhorter shows how this continued degradation is stripping our public discourse of the very richness and precision we most need in these complex times, though he doesn't hammer this point home. (Note: This book makes much more sense if one realizes that good writing is thought on paper.) McWhorter subtly implies, though never states, that the American public's desire for the 'real,' the 'honest' and the simple, is, perhaps, a mistake.

Very well written (with a few editing mistakes!), I give it 4 stars, as it doesn't provide any ideas for changing the situation. Having said that, I am making efforts to improve my own writing and speaking as a result of this book.
Keeping It Unreal.......2005-07-15
The subtitle of McWhorter's book suggests that we ought to care about the degradation of language and music. Unfortunately, the book remains uneven because he never makes clear why we should care, or whether we can or ought to do anything about it.

McWhorter has no trouble marshalling the evidence. Particularly in the Twenties and the Sixties one could perceive a cultural shift that favored the spoken word over the written -- the casual and spontaneous over the thoughtful and reflective. Many examples are given to illustrate the growing informality in print, TV, and even presidential addresses. There is so much proof, in fact, that McWhorter repeats himself and digresses into personal anecdotes whose relevance is sometimes questionable.

After each example I found myself asking: So is this good or bad? Sometimes he appears to welcome the informality, sometimes to mourn it. Can we do anything about it? The failure to answer these questions may be indecision on McWhorter's part. Or it may reflect the belief that this cultural shift is like an impersonal force of nature which we can neither create nor control, a belief for which I have little sympathy.

McWhorter uses the phrase "artificially crafted," as though any work governed by formal rules or guiding principles is artificial. It follows that stripping away these rules and principles is, to use the slang phrase, "keeping it real." It is not surprising that McWhorter likes rap but dislikes poetry. Rap presumes to be the voice of the street, of the struggles of the downtrodden black man -- of "what's real." Let's leave aside the fact that many of rap's creators and admirers are not downtrodden but well-off, well-educated, and often white. Even calling rap "music" is a stretch. Rap strips music down to rhythm. A rapper talks, usually shouts, in obvious and arbitrary rhymes over the monotonous thump of a computer-generated rhythm, accompanied by a melody or guitar lick stolen from someone else's song (a sample). There is nothing original or musical about it. Most rap expresses only two emotions: anger and lust. This is because it is aimed at teenagers, whose hormones are pumping with anger and lust, and because it is created by people who are teenagers or at least possessive of teenage mentalities.

The attempt to align oneself with what is common, and therefore more "real," is an old habit in cultural history. I too enjoy an occasional Big Mac. But I never confuse it with a healthy meal, let alone gourmet cuisine. Perhaps McWhorter defends rap because it is a guilty pleasure, because he wants to appear hip, or because, as an employee of Berkeley, he must affirm the school's countercultural agenda. Poetry bores McWhorter in part because he considers it the remnant of a snobbish age we are better off leaving behind. There is no bad grammar, he suggests, because the rules of grammar are relative and artificial. And yet the alternative, i.e. "doing our own thing," is itself relative. It is a substitute for consensus, in this case consensus about what constitutes good language and music. This move away from accepted standards and toward individual choice is a move from the permanent to the relative. Does McWhorter favor this move toward cultural relativism?

For my part, I welcome the formal expression of our thoughts and feelings, just as I welcome defense of enduring values and cultural norms. I am reminded of Burke's phrase "the wardrobe of a moral imagination." The most interesting and significant cultural contributions, whether in poetry, music, painting, and so on, are those which reveal real thought, effort, and justification and at least some familiarity with the traditions and methods of those fields. The alternative to form is formlessness. Only within the framework of standards can we maintain any kind of equilibrium. The transmission of these standards helps keep a civilization together. Is it possible that uncertainty and drift are the result of the loss of these standards?

The book is unfortunate because McWhorter has a powerful mind that is crowded with thoughts. I agree with some of what he says -- and he always has something interesting to say. But his thesis remains muddled. Is there something worth conserving? Lacking any affirmation of norms, his arguments lead to a helpless and hopeless cultural relativism in which one thing is as good as another, and in which freedom and change are out of our hands. McWhorter is not "keeping it real." He is keeping it mindless and soulless. And that is a peculiar position for a professor to take.
Tempted to give it one star........2005-07-04
This book makes the most grievous error a book can make: it's boring. The title sounded intriguing, but the book is a real snooze. I skipped page after page looking for something of interest to read. Alas, I found nothing. Talk about disappointment. I was hoping for a scathing analysis of the degradation of language in contemporary discourse and music. What I got was...well, I'm not sure but it put me to sleep within 5 minutes. I don't want to read in-depth analyses of speeches from 1856 or whatever. Maybe there's another book out there that discusses the devaluation of language in pop culture in a compelling way. This one ain't...I mean, isn't, it.
Intelligent look on a contraversal subject .......2004-12-26
John McWhorter's "Doing our own thing" examines the decline of formal English in 20th century America, in the same vein as George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language". McWhorter argues that the anti-authoritarian attutide, prevalent to the North American (youth) culture, is responsible for erroding the art of formal English in writing and speech.

In supporting this thesis, McWhorter presented plenty of examples from literature and mass media alike. In my opinion, this is an excellent book on trends in American English, and McWhorter's comments are both insightful and humourous, particularly his footnotes.

Despite the richness in evidence, they are merely circumstancial. Nowhere in his book did McWhorter directly discuss the "anti-authoritarian" movement which was central to his argument. He did, however, admit this shortcoming in various occasions. Most of these examples, in his words, are "symtoms" to a bigger phenomenon. By that, he also implied that Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, and Britney Spears were products, not causes, of said movement.

On two points I would disagree with McWhorter. First is on his discussion on performing operas in translation, of which he is a strong advocate. McWhorter did contradict himself when he rediculed the French language edition of Seinfeld, confirming my belief, that the issue is simply a matter of opinion.

The other point is McWhorter's criticism of students preparing for the SAT. Quite clearly, if given the means, McWhorter would propose a more rigorous school curriculum for the English language. The point which he (delibrately) missed, is that students who memorise such "SAT" words usually have little understanding on the nuances behind the words, something which McWhorter strived for throughout the book.

Going back to the theme, McWhorter emphasised, that the problem goes much deeper than poor grammar, and he proved the point by writing the entire book with "poor" grammar. Formally written English is higly processed and demands conscious participation from both the writer and the audience. The thinking process stopped with the gradual substituion of spoken English. The people are effectively reduced to a bunch of automatons, effectively throwing their liberty away, an ironic consequence of the counter-culture revolution.

Although McWhorter's opinions are somewhat contraversial, and I do not agree with every one of them wholeheartedly, "Doing our own thing" does make me question the way I perceive the English language, and become conscious of my own thought process.

Postscripts:

1) In response to Mr. Stephen G. Esrati, who commented on the meaning of the word "artful", which Mr. McWhorter generously sprinkled throughout. Indeed, the word "artful" is indicative of one's mental faculty, in a sense of cunning and deceit. This, however, is but one particular aspect of the definition. The context used in McWhorter's book is far from the sinister interpretation provided in Mr. Esrati's review.

2) A lot of people think McWhorter is a sellout for his views on racial issues. I think otherwise. The Chinese identity in America, though emerges much later than the Blacks, is no longer built upon head tax, piggy tails, and laundry stores. Yet we still preserve the core of our culture. Along the same argument, the Black identity needs not be built upon slavery, violence, and poverty. McWhorter urges others not to yield to social pressures and break free from the invisible boundage, a struggle that is universal and transparent.
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