Book Description
The ultimate guide to faking it through the real world! Now the people who bring you the Web's most popular humor site teach you how to live the good life (or at least look like you do).
With annual revenues surpassing $6 million and an astonishing 10 million unique visitors a month, CollegeHumor.com ranks within the top six hundred Web sites worldwide. Now, in a follow-up to their recently launched The CollegeHumor Guide to College, these cheeky alumni offer real-world novices a guide to getting ahead—without getting out of bed before noon.
In Faking It readers will learn how to bluff their way through on-the-job conversations, woo cute art students with the compelling use of the term “postmodern,” and feign a deep appreciation of Neruda. The CollegeHumor team of experts provides everything required to pull off an outstanding social life, including appearing to have cultural knowledge beyond references gleaned from The Simpsons. The sexual, financial, and social arenas have never been more competitive, so it can't hurt to act like you understand classical music, even if you prefer light beer to light opera.
Published just in time for graduation, Faking It is the poseur's bible, but with less religious overtones than the real bible—and more pointers on conspicuously carrying an NPR tote bag.
Customer Reviews:
Amazing!.......2007-08-01
While the book is titled and themed around 'Faking It', you will come to realize that if you try these things, you will unwittingly improve yourself over time. There was a ton of good advice geared towards young adults coming out of college and in their early 20s, and also had a great mix of humor in with it. Basically it is a great self-improvement book that keeps you intensely interested beginning to end by offering out true advice mixed in with incredibly humorous sarcastic side notes.
The idea itself is appalling to an old fuddy- duddy .......2007-06-17
The basic idea is that by faking it in life you can make it ways you could not otherwise. The attempt is to provide all kinds of suggestions, mostly humorous which the guys can use to make themselves get whatever it is they happen to want in life.
But the basic idea as I understand it, and here I am an old fuddy- duddy is appalling. It is really recommending that 'dishonesty' be at the heart of whatever the person does.
What the authors say is that everyone does the things they recommend, and that they therefore are excusable. Here are some small examples. They say the person should pretend to know about classical music when they do not by answering the question as to which is their favorite composer by saying Mozart or Bach. They then say if there are further questions you can be dismissive to hide one's ignorance. This sounds to me like a trick a three year old would be able to detect the phoniness of. Another example they give is when someone wishes to convince others that they are handy. The authors recommend buying a cordless drill by which one can put a hole in anything. This sounds ridiculous and inane.
Perhaps I have been away from college for too many years. But I think it might be a better idea for the authors to devote their next project to the idea of how each one can truly make himself a better person by being more honest to and considerate of others. And this because also fooling others is most often a way of showing one 's disrespect for them.
Completely worthless if your not male........2007-05-24
I bought this book because I thought it would be an enjoyable read. I liked the cover that made it look like the funny and helpful advice inside would be for both men and women. Upon reading it I found that it was only written for men. Each section has interesting things to say, and yes some are helpful, but very few things in this book apply to women. The fashion section doesn't even cover women's clothing at all. I think if they're going to put both genders on the cover they really should apply to both. Women could use amusing advice as well. I'm not a feminist, but I couldn't help but feel like it was pointless for me to read how to buy a suit. I read the prior book by CollegeHumor and it wasn't so single sided. I expected the same from this one, but instead wound up feeling like I was living in the 50's with how it was written.
A funny book by a funny website.......2007-04-20
College Humor gets all grown up with their new book about faking it in the real world. Granted, it's still aimed at college students, but with its tips on how to pull off some of the crazy shit only guys (like myself) in the college humor.com age group would want and be able to pull off with skill!
Granted, it's not as funny as their first book, but this is still definitely worth a read. The crew took a very original approach to a style of fratire that's been beat to death over the past year, and pulled it off with gusto--they should get gold star just for that!
If you're looking for a fun, easy read that you can just pick up, flip through casually and still get a genuine dose of entertainment out of it, this book is perfect. I may be a little biased since I used to write for the site, but honestly, I wouldnt give it a good review if I didnt think it was worth while. Check it out.
Michael Ferrari
Author, "Assault on the Senses"
Life's Easy Little Shortcuts.......2007-04-08
A very funny book full of great advice for guys on how to seem just a little bit better than you actually are. Topics range from the practical, ordering wine and throwing a cocktail party with minimal effort, to the extreme, making up jail stories and doing drugs while looking respectable. The book can be read in an afternoon or can be used as a reference guide.
Average customer rating:
- Something Special
- Review by Julia
- Courtesy of Teens Read Too
- Thoughtful, inspiring tale
- Appriciate Your Life
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Faking 19
Alyson Noel
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
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ASIN: 0312336330
Release Date: 2005-02-10 |
Book Description
On the surface, 17-year-old Alex has it made; she is beautiful and smart. Plus, she's best friends with M., the absolute most popular girl in school. Feeling bored with their fancy Orange County suburban town, Alex and M. decide to check out L.A.'s glitzy nightlife scene.Pretending to be 19, Alex and M. meet Trevor and Connor, two rich older guys. At first, Alex can't believe her luck--she gets to hang out at hip Hollywood houseparties and downtown L.A. clubs. These weekend trips into the city become the perfect distraction for Alex, who is secretly struggling with her failing senior year grades, her absentee father, and her clueless mom. But, after the initial fun wears off for Alex, she is forced to reevaluate her friendship with M., who is hiding some secrets beneath her perfect Burberry-clad exterior....
Customer Reviews:
Something Special.......2007-02-21
Faking 19 is a relatively predictable teenaged novel. It fallows the lives of two girls living in the current hot spot-- California. They seem to be polor opposites- rich/poor, blonde/brunette, etc, but they are best friends. As the plot unravels, we learn that the rich girl (M) is not as lucky as her poor friend Alex assumes. The ending is predictable and unexciting, and the characters relatively shallow, but something about this book makes you want to finish reading it.
Review by Julia.......2007-01-05
Faking 19 isn't just a shallow book about some messed up teenagers life. This book really goes to and captures real life experiences that happen to teens. Alyson Noel really knew what being a teen is about and how it works and what goes on with us between friends and ones own head. Alex and M have great lives and our great friends. But for real?
Alex has the life any teen would want. A popular best friend, she has skills that lead her to straight A's and she's great looking too. But as High School progresses Alex finds herself in a deep hole she dug herself into. Now she's failing almost all of her classes and skips them just as often as anyone's would normally go to them. She could care less about her future until she gets a severe reality check. She won't be able to get into college. If you rule out her not being able to pay for it. Since her parents split up her father doesn't want to pay for college, and a scholarship is out of the question, regarding her grades. After she has an intense meeting with her Mom and the Guidance Counselor, she knows she needs to pull up her grades, and fast. But she skips and takes a trip to LA, where her and her popular, rich and beautiful best friend M, takes her. There they meet their future, Connor for Alex, and Trevor for M. They're hot older guys, around 23, while these "innocent" girls are only 17. But of course,17 is way too young. So why not be, say, 19. Connor and Alex get into an intense relationship, and quickly, in the heat of the moment, start to have sex. At the last second she screams to tell him she's not ready. Alex just hasn't known this guy long enough. This wasn't special enough. Her FIRST time had to be great right I mean yeah, this guy was hot, gorgeous, rich and powerful. But did he love her? Did he even know her? But maybe he really wants to get to know her, maybe it can work. As time progresses the girls create meaningful relationships with these men. But Trevor gets M into something neither Alex nor M expected. She starts smoking pot, doing ecstasy and coke. M's mom finds her pot in a shoe and gets mad. But M goes and blames it on Alex, in fear or getting in trouble. Yet in reality, M's mom could care less if it was hers. She has her own problems. Her husband is having an affair and she can't let herself leave him. She loves her materialistic life, and doesn't want to sacrifice it. And to make things worse for M, she finds her Dad out? with his new girlfriend, and uses it against him to be able to spend even more money. But Alex doesn't have problems like her. She finally haves sex with Connor, and it's amazing. So they do it again another day, even though Alex still needs to bring her grades up. And in the morning she tells Connor she's 17. He flips out. Their relationship is ILLEGAL! So there goes their relationship. Down the drain, they're over. Now Alex really decides to focus. She gets down to work and brings her grades up a lot. She even wins a scholarship. She starts doing great, but for real? Her and M start having problems. Alex realizes M bribes her to do things. And she hates that. Maybe she even hates M. She needs time to think.
I think this book is exceptionally written. Noel really dug deep into what happens with our lives. I think the book should have a sequel or maybe be longer though. I absolutely love the last chapter and how things pull together, but the ending with the last few chapters keeps you wondering. I like how you can make up your own ideas about how it all turns out, but I always want to know more. I think this book had depth and real meaning and it goes to show what materialism does to your life. It lets you know that drugs get you somewhere that you don't want to be and it can ruin your relationship with your friends really easily. And how lies just never end and lies make more lies that ends you up in a mess. One that's just too hard to untangle.
Courtesy of Teens Read Too.......2006-11-17
Alyson Noël took me for a joyride in FAKING 19 into the oh-so-fabulous, wild party life of two beautiful high school seniors in SoCal. At first glance, Alex may seem like she has it all. She's pretty, smart, and her best friend is the most popular girl at school, M. But the truth is, Alex has some pretty hefty family problems and she's undergoing a major identity crisis. Oh, and on top of all that, she's failing all of her classes and might not graduate from high school, never mind college.
Alex wasn't always this way. Freshman and sophomore years, she was on top of her game, a straight-A honors student. Those were her glory years. Now, she'd much rather hit the L.A. club scene with M every night instead of worrying about something trivial like her grades. It doesn't matter anyway; her dad won't pay for her to go to college, so what's the point?
One day, when Alex and M are out on the town, they meet a couple of cute, older British guys. Connor and Trevor are attractive and charming, and the girls immediately fall for them. Connor owns a record label and is filthy rich. Alex thinks that he just might be her ticket out of her dull life, and then she won't even need that college education her counselor so desperately wants her to achieve.
But when everything doesn't go exactly as Alex fantasizes, she realizes that the only person she can count on is herself. Ultimately, Alex discovers that there's more to life than who's wearing the prettiest dress or who snags the hottest guy.
Even though this book is about gorgeous teenage girls going clubbing in L.A., Alyson Noël still manages to create characters that I can identify with. Underneath the glamorous exterior, Alex is just another girl struggling to get through her high school years. Along the way, she learns an invaluable rule of life: Success is a gift that you give to yourself.
Reviewed by: Amber Gibson
Thoughtful, inspiring tale.......2006-11-09
The cover is misleading - it makes it look as if the book is about a couple of party girls. And it is, in a way, but it's so much more than that.
Alex Sky is the daughter of a single mom. Her parents got divorced and her dad hasn't looked back since. He won't even contribute to her college education. So Alex spends her junior and senior years of high school in a haze of apathy. Her grades go downhill and she spends all her time with her princessy friend, M.
Except M's life isn't as perfect as it looks. And M isn't the greatest friend, either.
Most of this book is about finding yourself, figuring out who you are and what you want to do, and letting go of your anger at the people who wronged you. It was really quite inspiring, in a way.
Appriciate Your Life.......2006-08-18
Faking nineteeen is a great story if you like to read about teenage drama. I like the way the author portrayed Allison. On the exterior she had everything anybody would want, popularity, and the most popular girl in school as abest fiend. But on the interior everything was going downhill. Her grades were dropping, her home life was unsatisfying, and her best frind was starting to turn into a drug addict. Faking nineteen inspired me because it made me think about my future and what I want to do with my life. This book taught me that people never appreciate what they have until it's out of reach. Also, that people are always acting on emotion, instead of thinking about the the consequences of their actions.
Amazon.com
Setting: Columbus, Ohio
Sensuality: 7
Mural artist Tilda Goodnight is struggling to pay off the mortgage on the family business and keep the Goodnight secrets safely hidden. Juggling her life gets even more complicated when she hides in Clea Lewis's closet and collides with sexy Davy Dempsey. Tilda is in Clea's bedroom to steal back a forged painting; Davy's there to steal Clea's account codes and retrieve the $3 million the larcenous blonde stole from him. Somehow, Tilda finds herself exchanging a mind-blowing kiss with her fellow burglar, and when Davy follows her home and rents a room from her mother, she's forced to deal with the charming con man. Everyone in Tilda's world is pretending to be someone else, including her daydreaming mother, her split-personality sister, and her cross-dressing ex-brother-in-law. All of them, including Tilda and Davy, are Faking It. What will happen when all the secrets are out and everyone knows the truth about everyone else? Will Davy recover his 3 million? Will Tilda recover all the forged paintings and find her true artistic calling? Will Tilda's mother run off to Aruba with a hit man named Ford? And exactly what is the difference between a man labeled a "doughnut" and one who deserves the title "muffin"?
Faking It is a hilarious, warm novel with a cast of quirky and wonderful characters that endear while they charm. Readers who met the Dempsey siblings in Crusie's Welcome To Temptation will be delighted to revisit the family and discover what happens to Davy Dempsey when he meets his romantic nemesis, Tilda Goodnight. --Lois Faye Dyer
Book Description
LOVE AND DECEPTION HAVE A LOT IN COMMON.Meet the Goodnights, a respectable family who run a respectable art gallery-and have for generations. There's Gwen, the matriarch who likes to escape reality, Eve the oldest daughter who has a slight identity problem (she has two), Nadine, the granddaughter who's ready to follow in the family footsteps as soon as she can find a set that isn't leading off a cliff. And lastly, Matilda, the youngest daughter, has inherited the secret locked down in the basement of the Goodnight Gallery, the secret she's willing to do almost anything to keep, even break into a house in the dead of night to steal back her past. THE RISKS ARE INTOXICATING.Meet the Dempseys, or at least meet Davy, a reformed con man who's just been ripped off for a cool three million by his financial manager, who then gallantly turned it over to Clea Lewis, the most beautiful sociopath Davy ever slept with. Davy wants the money back, but more than that he'll do anything to keep Clea from winning, including break into her house in the dead of night to steal back his future. AND IF YOU'RE REALLY GOOD AT THEM, THEY BOTH PAY OFF.One collision in a closet later, Tilda and Davy reluctantly join forces to combat Clea, suspicious art collectors, a disgruntled heir, and an exasperated hitman, all the while coping with a mutant dachshund, a juke box stuck in the sixties, questionable sex, and the growing realization that they can't turn their backs on the people they were meant to be....or the people they were born to love.
Customer Reviews:
Lots of fun.......2007-08-08
Davy Dempsey's back! Crook, unforgettable rogue, extremely talented lover, Sophie's brother from Welcome To Temptation is still leaving a trail of hearts and empty wallets behind him. Clea Whipple, AKA Clea Lewis, is also back. She's embezzled a few million from Davy and he wants it back. Already I'm interested. Then Crusie throws in Matilda Goodnight, on the search for six illegal paintings she `forged' in the name of another artist. Clea's bought one and won't return it, so Tilda decides to - er - steal it back. She meets Davy when she's looking for the painting in Clea's closet. He's hiding there, waiting to hack into Clea's computer to transfer his money back. What a beginning to a turbulent relationship, sealed with a naughty kiss in the dark! Jennifer Crusie gives us her whirly-bird look at life with a motley cast of slightly bent, very funny characters: a rebellious grandmother, a teenage goth turning Betty Blooper, a split personality mother, a gay father, a mysterious hitman, an FBI man (?) masquerading as a caterer, a smarmy art collector, Steve the obligatory dog, and assorted others. ...So what's, um, `faked'? The paintings, of course. Oh, and Tilda `sort of' fakes something else that Davy enthusiastically sets out to change. Wink, grin... Great fun!
Not worth reading.......2007-04-02
I read to about page 90 and just couldn't go any further. Up to that point, the plot seemed stupid to me and the characters reminded me of teen fiction. Some of the characters have multiple names and personalities, but not because of mental illness (I don't think, anyway), and it's confusing to keep up with them. Davy calls Tilda by all three of her "names" -- Tilda, Vilma, and Betty -- in the same conversation. It's just confusing and annoying.
Frequently, the dialog was boring and it seemed like the author was trying to fill space rather than give the reader meaningful interactions between the characters. I scanned a lot of the minor conversations and bickering in hopes the book would get better, but it didn't by page 90.
Also reminiscent of teen fiction is Tilda's mood swings between surliness and infatuation toward Davy. She acts like she's a hormonal 14-year-old. It seems each time the stakes are high and they're at immediate risk, Tilda has to make out with Davy in a dark closet. It wasn't romantic or sexy, it just made Tilda look pathetically insecure and the story lame. And when the tension was low and the lights on, Tilda was just plain rude to Davy with no entertainment value... even when Davy was willing to commit a crime to save Tilda's family's livelihood.
I read this book because it was recommended for fans of Janet Evanovich's books, but this is not even close to being as entertaining or riveting as Evanovich's writing.
Was disappointed at first, but..........2007-01-29
Having loved Welcome to Temptaion, I was eagerly looking forward to Faking It. I was disappointed in the first third of the book. It seemed boring, there were too many names to keep up with, and the plot was confusing. It also seemed to be lacking the wonderful humor of the first book. Then all of a sudden it all kicked in, and the fun began! The qirky humor, romance, wonderful dialogue was all there and I thoroughly enjoyed the last two thirds of the story. I would recommend getting into it. The payoff is well worth it.
Great book.......2006-12-01
This was my first book I've read of Crusie and I loved it.
Cleverly written, clevery plotted, light, funny delight.......2006-08-30
I have previously tried a couple of Jennifer Crusie novels, and while I have found them moderately enjoyable they have not really lived up to the praise she has received. But Faking It is, it would seem, everything Jennifer Crusie's fans have claimed. Its most distinguising feature is an easy, fluent, constant flow of clever, limber, comedic prose. Line by line the book is not necessarily laugh out loud funny but entertaining and imaginative and sharp.
The story concerns Matilda (Tilda) Goodnight, about 35 years old, a painter of imitation impressionist murals for people's walls. Her family runs a somewhat down at heels gallery in Columbus, Ohio. This family includes her mother Gwen, her sister Eve, Eve's daughter Nadine, Nadine's father Andrew, who divorced Eve when he realized he was gay, but stayed friends, and Andrew's lover, the family lawyer, Jeff. The family is in debt, partly because of Gwen's feckless, and dead, husband Tony. One thing Tony did was to have Matilda forge a series of paintings supposedly by Scarlet Hodge, the fictional daughter of Homer Hodge, who had done some American primitive paintings that he had actually been able to sell for good money. But now there is a problem -- one of the Scarlet Hodge paintings has been sold by mistake -- a painting that could easily be identified as a fake, which would possibly lead to lawsuits involving the other Scarlets. So Matilda tries to steal the painting back from Clea Lewis, the woman who has bought it.
Clea is a rather nasty 40ish woman who is trying to reel in rich Mason Phipps as her new husband, after the previous two died in suspicious ways. Clea also stole $3,000,000 dollars from a former lover, Davy Dempsey, a con man trying to go straight. Davy wants the money back, so he has abandoned his straight ways to try to steal the money from Clea -- but he runs into Tilda in the process. Standard meet cute -- and quickly they are kissing. But Tilda has basically sworn off men. And she still needs that painting.
So the story continues. Tilda makes Davy promise to get her the painting back. Mason Phipps, meanwhile, is after the Goodnight Gallery, and Gwen. Davy is after Tilda, who is attracted but can't admit it. Davy's friend Simon is after Eve, only he doesn't know it, because he only know's Eve's fake uninhibited personality, Louise. Clea seems to have hired a hit man to kill Davy, but Gwen finds herself unaccountably attracted to the hit man. Tilda realizes she needs Davy to steal or otherwise acquire all the other Scarlet Hodge paintings. Davy has ideas for revitalizing the gallery. Davy's unreconstructed conman father shows up. And so on ... A lot goes on, all quite interesting, all cleverly told, nicely plotted, and as I said very well put together prosodically. The title is nicely reiterated thematically -- fake paintings, fake identities, fake orgasms are all central ... A very light novel, to be sure, but a consistent delight.
Book Description
Musicians strive to "keep it real"; listeners condemn "fakes";…but does great music really need to be authentic?
Did Elvis sing from the heart, or was he just acting? Were the Sex Pistols more real than disco? Why do so many musicians base their approach on being authentic, and why do music buffs fall for it every time? By investigating this obsession in the last century through the stories of John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, Jimmie Rodgers, Donna Summer, Leadbelly, Neil Young, Moby, and others, Faking It rethinks what makes popular music work. Along the way, the authors discuss the segregation of music in the South, investigate the predominance of self-absorption in modern pop, reassess the rebellious ridiculousness of rockabilly and disco, and delineate how the quest for authenticity has not only made some music great and some music terrible but also shaped in a fundamental way the development of popular music in our time.
Customer Reviews:
Depends How You Define Authenticity.......2007-07-17
The book is very insightful, some chapters more so than others. As a participant in the folk revolution in the first half of the 1960s, the chapter on "Mississippi" John Hurt particularly resonated with me. However, I can readily see how other chapters would affect readers who came of age in other musical periods.
My only problem is definitional; the authors were too Manichean about authenticity versus the lack thereof. As I see it, while a second edition of Moby Dick may lack the authenticity of the first, it is nevertheless a desirable artifact. In other words, such other factors as age and popularity (i.e., staying power) may compensate for missing authenticity. Accordingly, while the authors would classify as "inauthentic folk music" such songs as Early Morning Rain and City of New Orleans, I would be a less restrictive; they are destined to join such equally inauthentic folk songs as Camptown Races and This Land Is Your Land in the great American folk canon.
Similarly, the authors define as "authentic" a song by Kurt Cobain and an album by Neil Young that were each recorded in one take and display all kind of [authentic] imperfections and angst. However, I question whether that makes them more authentic than a perfect opus by Pink Floyd or Miles Davis, or for that matter, Sinatra's perfect cover of I've Got You Under My Skin, which reportedly took over 30 takes to complete. And, if it is angst that confers authenticity, then that goofy pop tune, It Never Rains In California, takes the cake ("Out of work, out of bread, out of self-respect, I'm out of my head, I'm under-loved and underfed, I want to go hoooome").
Buy the book; just pretend that its title is Random Thoughts On Post-60s Music; you'll enjoy it and it will make you think.
A blend of history and cultural criticism.......2007-07-08
FAKING IT comes from two music critics who here examine a range of genres, from blues to rock, in the quest to answer issues of authenticity and cultural reality in music. Popular music's impact is wide-ranging and its ability to effect cultural and social changes has been documented - but is music's authenticity another pop image, born of marketing - or does it reflect real change and underground sentiment? FAKING IT offers a blend of history and cultural criticism and is a pick for any collection strong in popular music history and culture.
Among the best books about music I've read.......2007-04-30
Most books about music are narrative and follow the thread of a band or music movements arc. Either that or you follow a critics taste. That is fine, however those method doesn't end up telling you much but opinions and facts. They can be entertaining but they don't enlighten. This is a rare book about music that does. It helps you see your own taste differently. It helps show you how your opinions that you have about acts or subjects weren't created in a vacuum. It changes the way you feel about the way you feel about music, which is an amazing accomplishment.
My only hope is that they make good on the idea of an exploration of authenticity in hip hop.
A very interesting book on what is real (and unreal) about "being real".......2007-02-22
This is a very interesting book for anyone who has grown up paying even a little attention to the disputes about "authenticity" in popular music over generations. I am a classical musician and while the issues are hardly the same in that world, I can understand the notions of what these folks are struggling over and arguing about.
The authors begin with Kurt Cobain singing a Leadbelly song on MTV unplugged. His manner of singing the song, his complaints about being "real" and even his suicide act as a springboard for the whole book. We learn more about Leadbelly and his promoter, John Lomax, and where they actually fit into the music world of their time versus what white people believed about their heritage. John Hurt, who was a legend as an old man among the sixties folk singers. Yet, in his youth he was not nearly as popular nor as "authentic" as the sixties idolizers would have had the public believe.
It turns out that the Black public preferred Jazz and its sophistications to the blues and rural music that Leadbelly, Hurt and others performed. Nor was it as rooted in the slave past as the traditions believed. There was a lot of cross between rural White music and the rural Black music. We also see this in Jazz. It was only later that the schism between what is authentically "Black" or "White" became a fundamental issue, and its conclusions are largely wrong.
We get to compare the truly personal music of Jimmie Rodgers and his "T.B. Blues" against other music of its time and the tradition of autobiographical music. It is not as deep, rich, or lengthy tradition as one might expect. There is a lot of "character" biography, but not deeply personal stuff such as Rodgers singing about the tuberculosis that was killing him.
The authors later show us Elvis and how he created his persona and what traditions that flowed out of along with what Elvis actually invented. The problem is that what he created has become so much a part of what followed that it seems part of the genre now, but it was radical when Elvis created it. Or so the authors state.
We then get a wonderful chapter comparing The Beatles and The Monkees. It isn't quite as cut and dry issue of what is "authentic" versus "fake" as you might first think before you read the book. There is no question that The Beatles changed everything, but there is a lot of artifice that went into their music, too.
There is also woven into this the pop music of the Don Kirshner types and his role in The Monkees and what he did afterwards in creating The Archies and the lasting pop hit "Sugar Sugar".
Then comes a look at Neil Young and his travels through various stages of the search for Authenticity (the capital "A" is needed to describe what he was after). The Disco world and Donna Summer is next, the Punk Rock world, the faux reality of Ry Cooder's "Buena Vista Social Club" and world music. The book ties up with a look at Moby and then Nick Cave's "Mercy Seat" and the even more "real" cover by Johnny Cash.
One of the things that I find odd about the idea of "authenticity" in the making of a song is that these artists go around the world performing these pieces for decades. It is not possible that every performance of the work is equally "authentic" or even retains anything "real" about it after the thousandth time they perform it. The authors do mention Keith Jarrett who actually does make up new music on the spot for that night's performance. Now THAT is authentic. Of course, I find that a lot of his ruminations are just as boring as most of real life. Sure, there are moments of great brilliance, but art is working that up into a work and sharing that rather than all the scutwork that goes into the hard work of composing or writing or painting or sculpture.
I liked this book a lot and agree with the authors that listeners need to play more with the realities and the ideas of authenticity. We need to keep our ears and minds open to actually perceive what is going on rather than quickly accepting or dismissing musical works and musicians because of who we think they are (there is a lot of artifice in the creation of these persona's, too).
Of course, in the classical world, there is some of this, too. What is "real" classical, and what is out of bounds. And that discussion is not appropriate to this review. However, the idea that the piece is a role for the artist to perform rather than something "autobiographical" is rather well established.
One of the things beginning listeners to classical music get trapped in is hearing autobiography in the works of the masters. It is not that it is never there, but that it is rarely there as much as they suppose it is. The key is, does it move us? Is it great music? Does it speak to us about our lives and the human condition? It can also be for simple delectation. Not everything has to be dripping in angst and death. Real life has enough of that. Art should have something more, don't you think?
Customer Reviews:
Kenneth J. Lane: Faking It.......2000-04-21
I really like many of the designs that Kenneth J. Lane has produced over the years and loved having a reference book of all his different styles and periods. The prose is of a chatty style that I usually am not too fond of but Mr. Lane is so upbeat and aware of the good fortune that has blessed him that you can't help but like him. The photography is wonderful and it is fun to see photos of celebrities wearing his jewels. The book could have been stronger if it has an addendix of technical information about the creation of costume jewelry or had a reference as to current pricing of some of Mr. Lane's vintage pieces. But I had many a fun evening looking and reading and will definately keep this book available for several more readings.
Great pictures - no help on value of pieces.......1998-10-13
This book has beautiful pictures, but not enough info & absolutely no help on figuring out values.
Product Description
Best-selling author Bill Robertson takes a fresh approach to chemistry fundamentals by helping you understand them from the ground up. Instead of hounding you to memorize the characteristics of atoms and the periodic table, Chemistry Basics will help you see those characteristics as a natural consequence of our understanding of
Customer Reviews:
Stop Faking It! Chemistry Basics.......2007-08-13
By no means complete on the subject of high school chemistry, this book offers several novel ideas to teach a few chemistry concepts in inquiry based ways. Many times the book does not stand alone and the author seems to frequently refer the reader to other books in the Stop Faking It series.
Average customer rating:
- I finally understand (a little bit)
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Force and Motion: Stop Faking It! Finally Understanding Science So You Can Teach It
William C. Robertson
Manufacturer: National Science Teachers Association
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ASIN: 0873552091 |
Customer Reviews:
I finally understand (a little bit).......2003-01-19
I've never even come close to understanding even one of Newton's laws. I only made it through Physics in college because my brother-in-law is a science whiz, and I took the course over the internet. I am so happy to have come across this book though. For the first time in my life, I think I get it! Robertson's explanations address all of my (to what some people may believe) silly questions respectfully - as if I am the one who is logical for questioning and not grasping it! He explains the rationale behind the concepts in a humorous (sometimes laugh out loud) way - and I walked away wishing I could take a stab at that college physics class once more.
Book Description
This book offers the first major study of mock-documentary. The authors examine the relatively new form along with the association between factual codes and conventions, and the discourses which underpin the genre. The analysis includes detailed explorations of Woody Allen's Zelig, Peter Greenaway's The Falls, the Beatles' spoof The Rutles as well as Bob Roberts, This is Spinal Tap, and Man Bites Dog.
Book Description
States like Russia and Ukraine may not have gone back to totalitarianism or the traditional authoritarian formula of stuffing the ballot box, cowing the population and imprisoning the opposition–or not obviously. But a whole industry of “political technology” has developed instead, with shadowy private firms and government “fixers” on lucrative contracts dedicated to the black arts of organizing electoral success.
This book uncovers the sophisticated techniques of the “virtual” political system used to legitimize post-Soviet regimes: entire fake parties, phantom political rivals and “scarecrow” opponents. And it exposes the paramount role of the mass media in projecting these creations and in falsifying the entire political process.
Wilson argues that it is not primarily economic problems that have made it so difficult to develop meaningful democracy in the former Soviet world. Although the West also has its “spin doctors,” dirty tricks, and aggressive ad campaigns, it is the unique post-Bolshevik culture of “political technology” that is the main obstacle to better governance in the region, to real popular participation in public affairs, and to the modernization of the political economy in the longer term.
Customer Reviews:
A re-interpretation of the nature of post-Soviet politics.......2006-11-05
Without doubt, this book will have a formative influence on future post-Soviet studies and should lead to re-assessment of many former findings on post-Soviet politics. To be sure, Wilson has neither introduced here any neologisms, nor produced a criminological study with entirely new data. Yet, he has still done political science a service by demonstrating in admirable detail how hidden control of information flows, party-building, and electoral processes by the powers-that-be has been perverting democracy, in the post-Soviet world, to such a degree as to create a relatively novel system of state-society relations in which fundamental democratic procedures are formally observed, but made largely senseless through their more or less sophisticated manipulation. Thus, Wilson does make here in so far a terminological innovation as he, in my reading, lifts the, until now, largely colloquial, peculiarly post-Soviet construct of "political technology" to a proper political science concept, i.e. to a term specifically designed to distinguish certain post-Soviet political practices from those political PR campaigns that are also well-known in the West. What to this reader seems particularly important in Wilson's argument is that he explicitly argues that "political technology" should only partly be understood as a radicalization of some dubious Western political practices, such as the massive negative advertising that has been typical of recent US presidential election campaigns. Instead, Wilson shows that "political technology" is, above all, rooted in Russia's and the other republics' Soviet past, namely in the peculiar manipulation strategies that the KGB and other Soviet bloc security services had developed in their fight against anti-Soviet dissent.
On the one hand, Wilson has thus strengthened the Soviet element within the construct "post-Soviet transitions" lending support to those researchers emphasizing the continued relevance of the area studies element--as opposed to cross-civilizational comparative approaches--in the study of contemporary Russia, Ukraine, etc. On the other hand, we might be dealing here with a case were post-communist studies can make a contribution to general political science: "Political technology" or "virtual politics," as introduced by Wilson, might be concepts that will travel to other regions of the world and could help us to understand better various perversions of democratic procedures by spin-doctors who might not have had the benefit of serving in the KGB, but who may still be comparably cynical and similarly original in the choice of their instruments for manipulating democratic processes.
This is, therefore, a book that one can safely recommend as being conceptually and theoretically innovative to both, political scientists dealing and not dealing with the former Soviet Union. Wilson's book is of additional value because of the astonishing amount of--partly, little-known--facts, dates and names that he has amassed here, and the variety of large events and small affairs that his narrative chronicles. Enlightened Russian or Ukrainian political scientists may find Wilson's emphasis on the role of "political technology" not very original, and be, at best, intrigued by the relative novelty of these phenomena to the comparative study of democracy. They will, I would suspect, still be impressed by, and able to learn from, Wilson's book because it is such a dense and well-researched description.
Book Description
After college, Anne Thomas Soffee journeyed to Los Angeles to start a career as a rock journalist and small-time heavy metal flack. This hilarious peek into the early years of the hair-band era reveals the hierarchy of fishnets, bustiers, and chicks with the Holy Grail—a backstage pass. A taste for other people’s prescriptions and too much beer edges her freelance journalism work right off her schedule. She struggles with not being thin enough, pretty enough, or cool enough when, in the midst of the L.A. riots, Soffee is offered a coveted slot in Virginia Commonwealth University's MFA writing program. Determined to pull herself out of current habits, Soffee starts turning her life around, making a stop at rehab before she heads off to graduate school. Her quarter-life crisis is packed with offbeat characters that prove that fact is often funnier than fiction.
Customer Reviews:
Not bad but..........2007-02-05
...not great either. I think I was expecting a real rock and roll expose but only got a few hints and snippets of what really went on in that world at that time. Most of the story takes place at a bar and focuses on the author's increasing disillusion with her chosen life, and her subsequent substance abuse -- unfortuantely a tale that's been done to death nowadays. I liked "Snake Hips" much better, if only because it was not the story of a drug-and-booze-fueled downfall, but of a woman finally finding herself and some insights on life and creativity. Anne's style, I will say, is very engaging. Truly she comes across like your "snarky best friend" and the text pulls you right into her world. I read this book in one sitting because I literally could not put it down, and yet I was left wanting more from the story than she gave. She's got sarcasm down to a science, but I kept waiting for something to really *happen* besides a few brushes with lesser-known musicians and a disastrous affair with a name-deleted "punk icon". C'mon, Anne, if you're really THAT hardcore of a rock chick you'd name some names here, lawsuits be damned. And you'd give a lot more gory detail on the naughty bits, too. The drag queens were hilarious but we never really got to know any of them up close. You circle around the edge of telling us what really happened out there and how it made you feel, but always pull back before we can get to see the whole picture. I was expecting a rock documentary, but only ended up with a few fuzzy snapshots. Oh well. Better that you're now a sober bellydancing author than just another street kid in L.A. who becomes a statistic. I will say that Glenn Danzig sounded like an interesting guy... but again, too bad you didn't get close enough to him to get more details. I would say to Amazon customers that this book is an OK read, but it's not a real "insider tell-all" if that's what you're looking for. And definitely don't read it if you're looking to be inspired by the rock scene, because you will come away depressed. In the end you will start to root for Anne's family, who keeps trying desperately to get her to come home. (And a good thing she did, otherwise we'd never have had "Snake Hips".) Call me square but I like her tale of bellydancing sobriety much better.
Nerd Girl does rock!.......2005-10-06
I read a lot of books where the writing is good, but the subject matter isn't so interesting and vice versa, but this is a gem. Anne's writing style is like a welcome letter from your favorite snarky friend. Well-balanced self-deprecation (no one can accuse her of being self-aggrandizing, but it's no pity party either) carry the reader through her attempts to go from small time VA press to journalist at the major rock rags. In her adventure, the reader is treated to dish about small time industry insiders, Glenn Danzig, Kelsey Grammer, Riki Rachtman, a certain unnamed (but easily figured out) skeezy figurehead of the punk rock scene, GWAR, and a host of catty drag queens.
Never a dull moment! As a former Richmonder, I admit to having a soft spot for the cracked out wanna-be boyfriend story, involving a member of a well known local band. Names withheld to protect the less-than-innocent.
If you liked Snake Hips, you'll like this. If you like tell-all punk and metal bios, you'll like this. If you like both of those things? This is the book you've been waiting for.
Keëping it Nërd.......2005-09-15
... Ms. Søffëe delivers another laugh-your-brains-oüt memoir. Armed with moxie and idealism, the author heads for Los Angeles to make her mark in the music journalism world, determined to keep it rockin' while hair metal is on its last gasp and being supplanted by grunge and alternative. While slightly more discreet than in her previous Snake Hips, Ms. Soffee names names which had me crowing in recognition. Her ability to laugh at herself in hindsight and make others follow her through the bum boyfriends, getting leeched by a Big Name and the benzos chased with beer without feeling like they're watching a trainwreck and gorefest. I highly recommend!
I knew you when.......2005-09-11
OK, I haven't read it yet, but I intend to. The thing is that I went to high school with the author and am thrilled to suddenly discover what has become of her.
The last I saw her I was running from a Grateful Dead concert having a severely bad acid trip. That was over twenty years ago.
I expect to enjoy her writing and look forward to the adult who has emerged from the teenager of my memory.
Not your typical memoir.......2005-09-10
Another memoir of a pivotal time of her life, but certainly not the same old memoir you find on bookstore shelves today. This one addresses the author's attempts to make it in LA as music journalist, and true to her chosen career path, the book is written less as an angsty, emotion laden memoir and more as a review.
This is not to disparage the book or to say that it is emotionless, because it's not. It just doesn't bog itself down with so much extraneous whining like many of the 400 page pity parties that are in print now. She doesn't back away from sharing intimate details, but she also doesn't feel the need to delve endlessly into the why and wherefor of her actions. She is unapologetic in her life recap, and that is something that is hard to find in the modern memoir.
If you remember the age of the hair bands, you will love this book for its insider information as much as for the overall story. This was a lot of fun to read.
Books:
- Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood (Sisterhood of Traveling Pants, Book 4)
- Front-End Analysis and Return on Investment Toolkit (Learning and Performance Toolkit Series)
- Getting Our Groove Back: How to Energize American Jewry
- Ghettonation: A Journey Into the Land of Bling and Home of the Shameless
- Giraffes Can't Dance
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
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