Music of a Life: A Novel

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The sounds of self-awareness

The music of anyone's life

Another Profund Work from Makine

Too Short?? No, Perfect

Touching but too brief

Music of a Life: A Novel
Andrei Makine
Manufacturer: Washington Square Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0743475607

Book Description

May 24, 1941: Alexeï Berg, a classical pianist, is set to perform his first solo concert in Moscow. But just before his début, his parents -- his father a renowned playwright, and his mother a famed opera singer -- are exposed for their political indiscretions and held under arrest. With World War II on the brink, and fearing that his own entrapment is not far behind, Alexeï flees to the countryside, assumes the identity of a Soviet soldier, and falls dangerously in love with a general officer's daughter. What follows is a two-decades-long journey through war and peace, love and betrayal, art and artifice -- a rare ensemble in the making of the music of a life.

Customer Reviews:

The sounds of self-awareness .......2005-02-02

A train station like a dot in the snow-covered expanse of the Siberian plains. People, thrown together by chance, patiently waiting hours for the delayed train to Moscow. Reflecting on the crowd as a collective sample of "homo sovieticus", the narrator singles out some individuals. He describes them in minute detail, bringing them alive for the reader. Suddenly, a piano tune, played elsewhere, breaks the multitude of muted night noises in the waiting room. For the narrator, the music transcends place and time and reveals a glimpse into a different, luminous reality... Following the tune through the station, he comes across an unlikely pianist. Rough, deeply scarred hands hardly touching the keys, then hesitating, confusing a note - and the pianist weeps.

This chance meeting of two strangers in the night frames like a picture the extraordinary and deeply moving story of Alexeï Berg, the pianist. Alexeï grew up during the years of arbitrary detentions and executions of Stalin's reign of terror. His parents, suspects for a while, seem to have averted the worst. The old violin, played sometimes by a family friend, since executed as a traitor, is thrown into the fire by the father in the hope of avoiding a similar fate. To Alexeï's ears, the exploding strings make the sound of staccato played on a harp. This sound is engraved in his memory forever. Yet, on the eve of his debut concert, their time has run out and he must flee to escape his own certain arrest. To survive he follows the road west, hides, and, as last resort, takes on a dead soldier's identity. Creating an imagined personality, always conscious of dangers to his double life, he joins "his" unit on the frontlines in the war against the Germans. Not surprisingly, Alexei's attempts to drown his previous self, that of the high-spirited young pianist on the verge of success in Moscow, only succeeds so far. After the war ends, memories of the past start re-emerging. He can no longer pretend without difficulty. What happened to his parents? Visions of a life not lived lead him to confront his two realities. In the end, it is the piano and the music that heals and at the same time exposes him. By accepting the consequences of his "crime" he recovers the connection to his former life and his inner voice of music.

Makine does not need many words to convey the intricacies of his hero's experiences. Using the precise, yet detached, language of an observer, he succeeds in conveying the reality of the Stalin purges, the horrors of war... the challenges of a generation, represented by Alexeï, that is caught in a life beyond its control. His intention is not to give his readers a grand epic of the man and his time. Rather, like a sculptor crafting a relief, Makine chisels out small pieces, highlighting minute details in some parts and using broad strokes in others to create his masterpiece. It succeeds also by drawing on the reader's understanding of the context, his empathy and power of imagination to visualize what is hinted at but not spelled out.

"You can never describe the life of another person" Makine said in a recent interview, each observer will interpret it based on his own understanding. The "perfect novel" is beyond description, he asserts, the reader should loose himself in it, observe and contemplate its meaning and, at the end, emerge transformed. Music can have that same quality as it carries the listener beyond the present reality. With "Music of a Life" Makine is living up to his own definition.

The relative brevity of the story should not be seen as a disadvantage. On the contrary, this is a highly charged and emotional story. A thin layer of "objective" reporting by the narrator only obscures for a short time the underlying intensity and the author's deep concerns for his country and its people. This is a treasure of a book, to be read more than once. This review refers to the original French version. Others have commented on the excellent translation into English. [Friederike Knabe]

The music of anyone's life.......2005-01-06

This story, told in shockingly clear photographs, details the life of a man, ravaged by the war and Stalin's empire, who chooses against what moves his soul in order to save his body. The book is short, but that's what makes it beautiful. The plot is purposefully underdeveloped in writing; Makine provides the reader with pictures of a time and place, gives them a little knowledge about a man, and leaves the rest to the reader. In this way, Alexei Berg remains mysterious, a shadow, someone who could have been merely part of the homo sovieticus introduced by the narrator in the beginning of the novel. Instead, however, he becomes - in the mind of the narrator and the reader - someone real, someone with a past, but someone who could be one of the a hundred people waiting, silently, on the floor of a cold station, for the train to Moscow.

This is the triumph of this novel - not the story itself, but that the story is not Alexei Berg's in particular, but a story of human spirit in general.

Another Profund Work from Makine.......2004-06-14

Andrei Makine's Music of a Life is a slim book, a mere 144 pages. It a simple story, told in a straightfoward, spare fashion. Yet within the framework of this simple story lies a profund piece of work that has an impact on the reader that, like the most beautiful music, lingers long after the last note fades into the night.

Makine, for those not familiar with his work, was born in the Soviet Union in 1958. He emigrated to France as a young man. He writes in French. (Music of a Life was nicely translated from the French by Geoffrey Strachan). At the risk of setting out what may sound like a hackneyed cliche, Makine's work for me combines the grace and elgance of the best French writers and the deep soul and conviction of the best Russian writers.

Music of a Life is set out as the re-telling of a conversation had between two strangers on a train moving slowly west from Siberia sometime around 1958, the year many thousands finally won their release from the labor camps that dotted the Soviet Far East. Two men sit together. One older man, wearing clothes that mark him as someone just released from the Gulag strikes up a comnversation with his fellow passenger. The story is set out in the voice of the other passenger. As the train moves on the older passenger and the narrator exchange slowly. At some point the older passenger, Alexe Berg, slowly sets out his life story.

In 1940, the young Alexe, a classically trained pianist of great talent and promise, was preparing for his debut recital. On approaching his family flat after the dress rehearsal he sees a pre-arranged symbol indiccating that his parents, supposedly dangerous members of the intelligentsia, had been swept up by the NKVD (pre-cursor to the KGB). Alexe makes his escape and finds himself hiding out in the Ukraine in 1941. The devastation of the Nazi invasion of the USSR in June of that year engulfs the Urkaine. Alexe comes upon the body of a dead Soviet solider, a peasant, and assumes the dead soldier's identify. Although this provides him some protection from those who might still seek his arrest, Alex realizes quickly that he must maintain this identity at all costs.

Alexe makes it through the war in one piece and, in fact, finds favor with a Soviet general, who keeps him at his side as an aide de camp during the rest of the war. Alexe's survival remains dependent upon his being thought of as a simple peasant. After the war, Alexe finds work with the general's family. The general's daughter takes a liking to the young 'peasant' soldier. Alexe becomes enamored of the daughter. The daughter, whose piano-playing skills are somehwat limited, if earnest, decides to teach the young peasant Alexe a few simple tunes on the piano. These lessons lead, inexorably, to the book's climactic moments.

The book leaves the reader (or at least it left me) contemplating the choices and compromises we sometimes make with life. It left me contemplating the question as to how much of myself would I compromise, how much of myself would I keep hidden in order to maintain some small amount of freedom in an unfree world.

As I noted at the beginning, this is a simple story, simply told. Yet, as with music, sometimes even simple combinations of notes creates a beautiful mosaic of sound. Makine has done this with the graceful combination of notes that makes up his Music of a Life.

Too Short?? No, Perfect.......2003-04-20

This novel is lyrical, wonderully written, economical with language, and deeply emotional. In this age where post-modern writers craft 700 page monsters that are in dire need of editing (of course there are wonderful novels this size, but mostly written before 1970), here is an intimate tale that is excatly as long as the story requires. With all due respect to the two reviews below--ignore them and you won't be sorry. Their criticism reminds me of Salieri's critique of Mozart's work in Amadeus--"sire, there are too many notes"--to which the proper response here is the same--"too many, there are just the right amount". The writing here is wonderful, straightforward and most of all, lacking attitude and artifice (for another writer similarly talented, try Ha Jin). Buy it.

Touching but too brief.......2003-03-28

Our narrator (name unknown) is waiting in a snowbound train station in the Urals when he encounters a peculiar man silently running his hands over the keys of the grand piano upstairs. The next morning, on the train together, he learns the man's name -- Alexei Berg -- and his story. When Alexei was young and living in Moscow, he was on his way to becoming a classical pianist. And he was engaged to be married. But on May 22, 1941, two days before his first solo concert, he was on his way home to his parents' apartment when a neighbor hurried past warning him not to go back. The secret police had come. And so he fled. After his fiance's family betrayed him, he took the identity of a dead Russian soldier and spend years fighting in the Soviet army. He was befriended by a General, taunted by his daughter, cast adrift without name or family ... but he has never forgotten his music.

Despite a very real poignancy, MUSIC OF A LIFE is far too short (109 pages) and undeveloped to be a truly satisfying novel. As I read I kept thinking that if Makine had spent more time on his plot and allowed it room to grow, the story could have been a winner. All the necessary elements -- danger, love, loss and rediscovery -- are present. Yet they're crammed into a few spare paragraphs and the reader is mostly told things, not shown them, between great jumps in time and place. Makine has obvious talent for description, for picking out the forgotten snapshots of life and portraying them as something strangely beautiful, but in this effort at least he lacks the ability to create an impression strong enough to last.

Book Description

Country music's laid-back legend shares his greatest lessons from a lifetime of writing songs, making friends, and surviving untold challenges.

Unabridged CDs - 4 CDs, 5 hours

Customer Reviews:

Backstage with Willie.......2007-09-11

I deployed to Afghanistan in May 2006. The morning of my departure, I received a phone call from both of the authors of this book. Willie and Turk wished me luck and a safe return on my journey. It was a memory that has been with me ever since. Just this past week, I had the fortune of getting to see Willie Nelson in concert (The Last of Breed Tour) for the first time in my 33 years. It was an amazing show and I also had the pleasure of meeting him backstage as he proceeded to the stage to perform with Merle Haggard and Ray Price. What an experience!
While on deployment I was able to read this book. There is little happiness in Afghanistan these days. But every night prior to lights out, I could always count on a smile and a reflection of my life through the words in this book. It was a pleasure to read.
To Willie and Turk...Thank you!

THE TAO OF WILLIE: A GUIDE TO THE HAPPINESS IN YOUR HEART.......2007-08-31

I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED THIS BOOK AND AM AMAZED AT THE WISDOM OF WILLIE. HE HAS CAPTURED GREAT DEPTH IN HIS INTERPRETATION OF THE TAO AND OFFERS IT IN SUCH A WILLIE-READABLE MANNER. THIS BOOK IS A TRUE JOY. DEFINITELY RECOMMENDED TO EVERYONE.

Product review.......2007-08-16

Book in pretty good condition but did have an inscription I was not aware of. Over all it was okay.

Fun to Read.......2007-02-13

This book is so much fun to read. Willie is such a wise man and has some great advice in this book. I would definitely recommend!

Delightful.......2007-01-06

I am a university professor and read many books, but I have not enjoyed a book this much for quite some time. It is a laugh out loud, down to earth book that brings one back to reality while having fun doing it. I put this book on my "read once a year" shelf, and sent copies to others. A quick read, and well worth it! Thanks for the good time, Willie.

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An Overlooked Treasure
Parental discretion advised
Come Sing, Jimmy Jo Johnshon
Come Sing, Jimmy Jo
A must read book

Come Sing, Jimmy Jo (A Puffin Novel)
Katherine Paterson
Manufacturer: Puffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140373977

Customer Reviews:

An Overlooked Treasure .......2007-07-03

I stopped to read the reviews here and decided to add my own.

My grandmother gave this book to me when I was about 12 and I took one look at it and stuffed it away on the bookshelf. I was busy reading books like Sweet Valley High and a book about some hick kid in West Virginia did not appeal to me at all.

But being the voracious reader that I was, I pulled it out one day out of boredom and much to my surprise, it's become one of my favorite books. I still put it out to this day and read it (I'm 31.) For a book about some of the most down home, country, even 'hillbilly' people you'll ever read about, it has a surprising touch of dreaminess and whimsy and is just full of characters that draw readers into their world. I just loved James' grandmother, and felt his heartache when they were separated. She was a character and a 1/2...I defy anyone to read about her and not dream of meeting such a woman someday, smoking her pipe, telling it like it is in her thick accent, and loving with all her might.

James is living in rural West Virginia with his grandmother while his family, who have their own classic country and western band, tour and try for their big break. James has a beautiful voice as well, but only likes to sing for his grandmother. His family returns for a visit one day, and invite a manager to come see them perform. The manager likes them, but is mostly taken with James and agrees to sign them-but only if James is included.

James goes to live in the city with his family, where they get a regular spot on a live music show that airs once weekly. At school James just tries to blend in, hoping no one will know that he's a tv 'star'. At home his family situation is becoming tougher and tougher. Although very close to his father, James misses his grandmother, and his mother and uncle seem to care more about the show and their hopefully impending fame.

His invisibility at school is made harder by a teacher who takes a great dislike to him, and his struggle to make sure no one knows his true identity, which is made even harder by a stranger that begins to follow him. Luckily, amidst all the turmoil James has some truly special people in his life, his grandmother, who exudes her influence even from afar, his father, who loves him unconditionally, and a new 'friend', Eleazer Jones, the King of his school. There is a lot of humor too that livens what could have been a tough read.

If you are in doubt, don't be. Read this book-you won't regret it.

Parental discretion advised.......2005-03-10

Come Sing, Jimmy Jo deals with tough topics. Caution is advised when presenting this book to a child to read. The book offers innuendos that will be more understandable to adults than most children readers. These include an affair between his mother and her brother-in-law and a mother's jealousy of her son's success (more obvious to kids). But what will be most obvious to young readers is that James' daddy, who he idolizes, is not his father. This is revealed to him by a scary stranger who turns out to be his father.

Come Sing, Jimmy Jo Johnshon.......2002-04-21

Katherine Paterson's book, "Come Sing, Jimmy Jo" tells a wonderful story, and really brings the characters to life. In this novel there are many triumphs and truths to overcome for one small, eleven year old boy. Jimmy Jo Johnson is really, James Johnson, a boy who was raised on a farm in West Virginia by his grandmother. Here he develops a gift of music. At the age of eleven he is a wonderful singer and guitar player. His family is in the business of singing and because of him they get a chance to play for a TV show.
After Jimmy Jo and his family find some sort of fame, things start to change. How his family members really feel about his success, and their singing careers. All in all, this book is a great book, which shows the true characters and feelings that often exist in family's who sing together. Jimmy Jo Johnson goes through a lot, with his mother, school, and when he finds out some interesting news. Jimmy Jo really finds out the people he can trust, and how life in the city really works. As his life changes, so does he, and along the way he discovers many things. I think his hidden friendship with Eleazer Jones is one of the best parts of this book.
End the end things work out for him, the best they can when any family faces problems. So without trying to give the whole book away, this was a very good read, and the author did a wonderful job, showing the real-life of this boy and his singing family

Come Sing, Jimmy Jo.......2001-03-09

I liked the book by Katherine Paterson. It shows how a young kid is able to go through hard times on a farm and become a good player of the guitar to play in front of large groups. In this story the kid has hardships because of his loss of confidence of playing in front of people. As a hardship there are many lawyers that get into the story making his life horrible by making contracts and other confusing things to a country boy. At the middle he starts to get in fights that start to make him discouraged on playing again in front of people. This story touched my heart to every last guitar pluck.

A must read book.......1999-04-21

Come Sing Jimmy Jo is about an 11 year old boy that sings at gigs and performs on national television. He has a lot of problems at home and at school. The best part of the book is when James's (Jimmy Jo) Father calls him and tells him that he is his real father. So, if you ever find the book in the library read; it is a great book.

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not your first sacco...
Steal this book
Joe Sacco: B Sides & Outtakes

But I Like It
Joe Sacco , and The Miracle Workers
Manufacturer: Fantagraphics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1560977299

Book Description

It's Safe Area Gorazde meets This is...Spinal Tap as cartoon journalist Joe Sacco takes on Rock 'n' Roll.

The Gaza strip? No problem! Deepest Serbia? A cakewalk. Those were easy. But now the time has come to follow award-winning cartoon journalist Joe Sacco on one of the most dangerous beats (and we mean "beats" literally) of all... namely the world of rock 'n' roll.

The centerpiece of the book is "In the Company of Long Hair," the early '90s graphic novelette Sacco created on the subject of his raucous European tour with the punk band the Miracle Workers. Although already published in other Sacco collections, "Long Hair" appears here for the first time in an expanded version with an added 15-page section of his original sketches and notes, and a bound-in CD featuring songs from the Miracle Workers' live shows of the time—including a blasting version of the Iggy Pop classic "I Got a Right."

As for the rest of the book: In a series of hilarious and sharply observed vignettes, Sacco turns his pitiless pen on all strata of Rock 'n' Roll, from old rockers ("The Stones and Me," a diehard fan's lament, and its sequel, "Suffering for the Stones") to new (the abovementioned Miracle Workers); from salacious gossip ("Who's Sleeping With Who") to how-to ("Woodstock in your Own Home"), from portraits of typical rock creatures ("Record Producer," "The Musician Who Wanted to Save the World," "The Rock Journalist") to self-deprecating autobiographical stories ("Why I Let my Hair Grow" and "So You Want to Meet a Rock 'n' Roll Star.") None of these have been collected before, and several, done for German magazines and papers while Sacco was living in Berlin, have actually never been published at all in English and are being translated for this edition!

The book is rounded off with some more recent, serious works such as "The Rude Blues," a full-color strip about Mississippi bluesmen done for Details magazine in 1999, and a piece about Lightnin' Hopkins done in 2005 for the Oxford American...as well as a treasure trove of rock posters, record and CD covers, T-shirt designs, and other "assorted rubbish" from Sacco's European years, all wryly annotated by the author.

Customer Reviews:

not your first sacco..........2007-01-06

Joe Sacco mentioned that there's no such thing as a sacco completist but here i am, i'm a sacco completist and i'm proud of it. i'm just one book away from collecting all his books. This book is really funny the art is great and the additional stuff added like the tour sketches and the CD is very very lovely. I just don't recommend this to be your first Sacco book to read as it might give u the wrong impression about his work. i loved palestine and its one of my favorite books and i just got safe area gorazde and i know i'll love it. What is really good about this book really that it shows u some of the personal things about sacco the artist and sacco the person. How he suffered to reach what he has reached now. How he tried to do stuff with his art, not to focus much on the rock n roll industry though his opinions are quite interesting. He's got a great sense of humour i cracked up on several occasion whilst reading. Great work sacco, looking for more from you.

Steal this book.......2006-11-05

I loved both "Palestine" and "Safe Area: Gorazde," but this compilation is a bit of a mess. You'll find a better and funnier snapshot of grunge-era rock and roll in Peter Bagge's "Hate" series.

Joe Sacco: B Sides & Outtakes.......2006-10-24

I'll be the first to admit that I'm eventually going to contradict myself at least once if not several more times in this review, but I both love and loathe this semi-offerring, if you will. I whole-heartedly admit to being what the author calls a "Sacco-completist," the type of person this book is specifically designed to cater to, but that didn't stop me from devouring it in one sitting, either. What I really enjoyed about But I Like It is Sacco's self-deprecating, sometimes morbid sense of humor yet sharp, sarcastic eye for the incongruities in life, which were on display much more so than in any of his previous offerrings. This type of collection could only be published when an author's popularity has reached a point where fans (like me, mind you) will salivate at the prospect of anything new and even vaguely Sacco-related - sort of like one of his one-page comics, The Record Collector. The inherent irony of the music industry Sacco portrays and his status as an artist in his own right is almost too much, however, it just may be my favorite thing about this book. The show posters are cool (I guess), the one-page pieces are great (no, really)...but seriously, Joe...sketches???

Lyrical Life: A Rock and Roll Love Story Told in 200 Song Lyrics

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The money shot of musical books!
A Great Conversation Piece
You've got the music in you.
Lyrical Life is a must have!
Hummin' the Tune!

Lyrical Life: A Rock and Roll Love Story Told in 200 Song Lyrics
Casey Jones
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1400048869
Release Date: 2003-10-28

Book Description

Life is a Song in Funkytown!

How many song lyrics will you know?

Welcome to the hip world of Funky Town, where pop song lyrics from five decades tell the rock ’n’ roll love story of Luka and Lola. With vivid graphics and nostalgic fun, Lyrical Life takes you on a musical adventure and will have you singing along with every page you turn.

Everybody's Talkin'...
"It's delightful . . . it's de-lovely"—Cole Porter
"I'm a believer."—The Monkees
"Lose yourself in the music."—Eminem
"Don't think twice, it's all right."—Bob Dylan
"Everyday I write the book."—Elvis Costello

Customer Reviews:

The money shot of musical books!.......2003-11-09

This is a must have for any music fan! Great stocking stuffer!!

A Great Conversation Piece.......2003-11-06

Lyrical Life is a classy, clever gift idea for any music fan and it would make a great stocking stufffer. The artwork is wonderful and the concept is a lot of fun - my friends and I have been quizzing each other on the songs that make up the storyline.

You've got the music in you........2003-11-04

Music is always with you, when you drive, when you think, when you dream and when watch tv. Songs remind you of summers, lovers, moments and moods. This books will capture all of that. It will talk deep into your soul, showing you that the lyrics you know form a nice story, well narrated and illustrated. But this book is way more then that. This book is different for every reader, because each page will resonate in a different way for each reader. There are a thousand stories in this book, hidden among the lines.
You need to find yours!!

You've got the music in you!!! (new radicals)

Lyrical Life is a must have!.......2003-11-03

What a wonderfully inventive idea....the illustrations are SO clever and they MAKE this book, without a doubt. Bold, great colors and textures, creative, very witty and artfully intelligent drawings...we should see more of Mark Malloy!! This book has great appeal to music lovers, and especially to those who grew up during the 70s and 80s. You will find yourself singing along! I bought a bunch to share with friends, and recommend you all do the same.

Hummin' the Tune!.......2003-11-01

Every page has a wealth of tunes, puns and fun! I especially liked the sight gags. The author and the illustrator obviously collaborated well. What I can't understand is how they stopped laughing and got the tears cleared long enough to get this book written!

Phoenix: The Passionate Shepherdess: The Life of Aphra Behn 1649-1680

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Phoenix: The Passionate Shepherdess: The Life of Aphra Behn 1649-1680
Maureen Duffy
Manufacturer: Phoenix Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

Born in 1640, Aphra Behn was a spy, poet, dramatist of the Restoration theater, and author of Oroonoko, one of the most popular novels of the time. "A marvelous achievement of logical investigation and imaginative intelligence."
--Spectator.

Average customer rating:

You will need more than a DJ to save this book
Fun Read
(RAW Rating: 4.5) - The Beauty of a Song
A Rousing Romp of an Unexpected Love Story
Life's a Party

Last Night A DJ Saved My Life: A Novel
Lyah Beth Leflore
Manufacturer: Harlem Moon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0767921186
Release Date: 2006-05-23

Book Description

Last Night a DJ Saved My Life takes readers behind the velvet rope and inside A-list nightlife. At thirty-five, Destiny Day is at the top of her game. Having escaped her hardscrabble beginnings in the small Midwestern town she calls “East Boogie, Illinois,” she is the savviest sister walking around in a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes. As New York’s premiere party promoter, she has glitz, riches, and steers clear of any man who threatens to cramp her style. Her parties, held at the hippest clubs, are packed with hip-hop royalty; top celebs from the worlds of sports, film, and fashion; and New York’s most successful power brokers. Destiny’s personal life takes a backseat to her career, but she’s got two best friends and a string of men to keep her satisfied. However, when she meets Taye Crawford, an independent financial advisor, at one of her own fantastic parties, Destiny finds herself moving in a direction she never anticipated.

Customer Reviews:

You will need more than a DJ to save this book.......2007-03-29

Disappointed is the word I will use for this book...I think it was not realistic at all! The main character, Destiny was shallow and living in a dream world! She thought too highly of herself and was not vulnerable at all so it was hard to like her. She would yell at her friends for not being smart in their relationships but then she will give some guy that never paid her any attention $50,000 and not even care when he doesn't return her calls! Seriously, I don't care how much money you have $50,000 is still a lot of money to not be mad over. I just don't understand why people were even friends with her and it was such a quick "I found Jesus" ending. She just changed overnight and Tyler took her back? Not in the real world! I did not like Destiny Day and all through the book I was hoping something bad would happen to her because she was a royal pain in the neck.

Fun Read.......2007-01-10

The cover caught my attention because it looked fun and interesting. I did get fun but I didn't feel like I got something new. I could see my friends in some of the characters and I enjoyed how the book took me into the music and club scene since I am a recently turned 21 reader. It was a fun book that I recommend to music and club lovers. Otherwise, don't bother.

(RAW Rating: 4.5) - The Beauty of a Song.......2006-12-24

Anyone who enjoys music and how it affects your life will enjoy Lyah Beth LeFlore's novel LAST NIGHT A DJ SAVED MY LIFE. And for those who aren't big music fans don't be fooled by the title, this book is about much more.

Destiny Day is a party promoter in New York who seems to have it all. She runs a strict business with the help of her staff, also known as "The Girls", which includes one of her close friends Jenna. She also manages DJ Peter, who not only is a DJ, but is also ready to step into the music industry if he can get Destiny behind him. While her business is doing great, her love life is another story. She is involved with several different men, yet she won't settle down and admit that love can exist. Finally, when a man comes into her life to show her what she could have, she makes decisions that push him away as well. However, even without a steady man Destiny is not alone because also along for the ride are her best friends Izzy, Rico, and Josephine.

Izzy is an aspiring actress who, like Destiny, was orphaned by her parents at a young age. She was raised by her grandmother and has issues with her mother that she must face before she can move on with her life. Rico is a makeup artist with the skills to make anyone beautiful, but he is too busy chasing men to reach his full potential. Lastly, Jospehine is a mother figure, advisor, and confidant for Destiny. She has lived a full life and holds the wisdom Destiny needs to grow as a woman.

LeFlore has managed to mix various stories and address different issues without one overshadowing the other or the plot becoming too confusing. Her novel is about more than music; it is about facing one's past in order to get to their future and teaches lessons on forgiveness. Also, the emphasis is not just on loving others, but loving yourself and making decisions that will make you truly happy. Of course the novel is also about how music speaks to individuals, draws a connection between them, or affects the way they live their lives. LAST NIGHT A DJ SAVED MY LIFE is a different type of love story that can change the way you think about life, love and music.

Reviewed by Criss Coles
for The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

A Rousing Romp of an Unexpected Love Story.......2006-12-07

The author speaks to her readers through the electrifying character of Destiny Day. Destiny seems fated to be a vixen like her mother Juanita. She escapes reality and responsibility by maintaining her position as the Queen of the Club in the A-List life. Her cultural manouvering will never help her escape the inevitability of life, which catches up to her in the form of handsome men Malik and Taye whom she much eventually chose between.

Author Lyah Beth LeFlore shows how well a person can develop their lives and make changes if they so desire through the character of Destiny as she gains more character and becomes a better person and friend through the relationships she has with her close circle of friends. Destiny grows in depth as the book progresses and she is faced with her ego (the Queen persona) versus reality (life situations that others face from choices they are making to live). Destiny is finally forced to grow up and join the regular world in the end, making this book a down to earth, regular read.

For those who want to dance along with the characters, laugh at a few jokes and cry at about a few bad decisions, this book is one to pick up.

Life's a Party.......2006-11-01

Sticking with same theme of the glamorous lifestyle of New York City's party people, Lyah Beth LeFlore goes at it solo with her latest novel, Last Night a DJ Saved My Life. Party promoter, Destini Day has escaped the midwest life she grew up in and now throws the best parties at the best clubs in New York.

Committment shy, Destini has her choice of the best men. As long as they can afford her and please her in bed, and not ask for anything more, they are in, but any signs from these men that they want more, they are out. The married and freaky Curtis, the evasive Malik, and DJ Peter are all keeping Destini satisfied until she meets Mr.Taye Crawford. There is something about this man that makes Destini want to step back and re-evaluate her stance on long-term relationships. Is he the one? Destini seeks advice from Ms Josephine, an older and wiser friend who draws from her own experiences in an effort to stop Destini from making the same mistakes she did.

Though this novel lagged in parts, I found it to be an interesting read. It is always fun to read about the lifestyle so different from your own, like the lifestyle of the nouveau rich, hip hop and rap artists, and their party hardy attitudes. Also, it was a treat to visualize the high fashion clothes and shoes described in the novel. I always appreciate when a storyline with substance is added. I think those who enjoy Urban and Hip-Hop reading will enjoy this book.

Jeanette
APOOO BookClub

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It's a Wonderful Life
M. C. Bolin
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0061011762

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The Big Ballad Jamboree
Donald Davidson
Manufacturer: University Press of Mississippi
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ASIN: 0878058532

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REBECCA WEST: A Life
Carl Rollyson
Manufacturer: Scribner
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0684194309

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Rebecca West was a prolific English literary star, producing a stream of essays, reviews, novels, and non-fiction journalism. In the 1920s she established herself as one of Britain's most influential critics, cultivating friendships with literary figures from George Bernard Shaw to H. G. Wells, with whom she began a torrid affair when she was 19. Her sweeping study of prewar Yugoslavia, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (1941), has been resurrected to some acclaim since the war in the Balkans. Beyond that, her literary reputation has never been elevated to the canon. Rollyson's exhaustive biography examines the strange life and the amazing output of an independent woman whom Wells called "Panther."

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