Wow! eBook
Heroes and Villains: Essays on Music, Movies, Comics, and Culture Original Edition
Author(s): David Hajdu (Author)
- Publisher: Da Capo Press
- Publication Date: October 6, 2009
- Edition: Original
- Language: English
- Print length: 352 pages
- ISBN-10: 0306818337
- ISBN-13: 9780306818332
Book Description
Heroes and Villains is the first collection of essays by David Hajdu, award-winning author of The Ten-Cent Plague, Positively 4th Street, and Lush Life. Eclectic and controversial, Hajdu’s essays take on topics as varied as pop music, jazz, the avant-garde,
comic books, and our downloading culture. The heart of Heroes and Villains is an extraordinary new piece of cultural rediscovery, original to this book. It tells the untold story of one of the most important—and, ultimately, one of the most tragic—figures in American popular music, Billy Eckstine. Through exhaustive new research, Hajdu shows how this great, forgotten singer, once more popular than Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, transformed American music by combining sex appeal, sophistication, and black machismo—in the era of segregation. The cost, for Eckstine, was his career—and nearly his life.
comic books, and our downloading culture. The heart of Heroes and Villains is an extraordinary new piece of cultural rediscovery, original to this book. It tells the untold story of one of the most important—and, ultimately, one of the most tragic—figures in American popular music, Billy Eckstine. Through exhaustive new research, Hajdu shows how this great, forgotten singer, once more popular than Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, transformed American music by combining sex appeal, sophistication, and black machismo—in the era of segregation. The cost, for Eckstine, was his career—and nearly his life.
Other essays in this expansive book deal with topical and surprising subjects like Beyoncé, Bobby Darin, Kanye West, Marjane Satrapi, Woody Guthrie, Will Eisner, the White Stripes, Elmer Fudd, Elvis Costello, Harry Partch, Ray Charles, Joni Mitchell, and more.
Editorial Reviews
Review
National Book Critics Circle Award FinalistASCAP Deems Taylor Pop Book Award Winner Kirkus, 9/1/09
“A graceful collection of essays…The author writes with enormous confidence and competence…The author is an able instructor whose vast knowledge inspires rather than intimidates…A gift for readers who enjoy erudition seasoned with élan.” Publisher’s Weekly, on David Hadju
“[He’s] an exacting critic, and a great place to go for a thinking man’s take on today’s music.” PW.com
“[A]rollicking collection… Hadju’s essays never fail to amuse, please and provoke.”
Entertainment Weekly website, 10/9
“[Hajdu is] the rare first-rate critic who’s also a first-rate interviewer.” The New York Post, “Required Reading” column, 10/11
“An eye-opener…Enjoyable” Forbes.com, 10/13
“[Hajdu is] like a grown-up Chuck Klosterman…,Heroes and Villains is hot.” LibraryJournal.com, 10/9
“[Hajdu] uses his discerning eye to highlight controversial junctures in popular taste”
“A graceful collection of essays…The author writes with enormous confidence and competence…The author is an able instructor whose vast knowledge inspires rather than intimidates…A gift for readers who enjoy erudition seasoned with élan.” Publisher’s Weekly, on David Hadju
“[He’s] an exacting critic, and a great place to go for a thinking man’s take on today’s music.” PW.com
“[A]rollicking collection… Hadju’s essays never fail to amuse, please and provoke.”
Entertainment Weekly website, 10/9
“[Hajdu is] the rare first-rate critic who’s also a first-rate interviewer.” The New York Post, “Required Reading” column, 10/11
“An eye-opener…Enjoyable” Forbes.com, 10/13
“[Hajdu is] like a grown-up Chuck Klosterman…,Heroes and Villains is hot.” LibraryJournal.com, 10/9
“[Hajdu] uses his discerning eye to highlight controversial junctures in popular taste”
About the Author
David Hajdu is the music critic for The New Republic and the author of The Ten-Cent Plague, Positively 4th Street, and Lush Life. He is a professor at the Columbia University School of Journalism, and he lives in New York City.
