Lance: the making of the world’s greatest champion
by John Wilcockson
This is a very solid biography from a writer who certainly knows cycling at its highest levels and who did an excellent job combining interviews and insights from friends, racers and others back to Lance’s earliest years into a compelling read.
The portrait is built of a brash, determined, competitive child of a single mother who continued to excel at an early age as a triathalete then as a successful cyclist – one who won the World Championship road race at age 21 in Norway in 1993.
We learn of the trials of being a world class cyclist; the mentors, the camaraderie, the team strategies and dynamics, the demands and realities of competing in Europe at the brutal one day classics and at other important stage races.
Around the middle of the book the seriousness of his cancer discovery hits like a ton of bricks and is yet another mountain for Lance to climb. His winning the first of seven Tour de France titles in 1999 is expertly recounted, as well are the subsequent title defenses, complete with descriptions of the key competitors like wily Italian climber Claudio Chiappucci and the ever tenacious German multi-time runner up Jan Ulrich.
Going right up through his split with Sheryl Crow and training for his comeback attempt in 2009, this may be as close to a complete, tell-all, interesting and relatively unbiased view we’ll ever get of a remarkable athlete, cancer survivor and the all time winningest Tour de France champion.
As an avid cycling fan I still learned quite a bit about Armstrong, good and bad and this biography enhanced my appreciation for his remarkable achievements (in the face of some very dire odds). The uncommon early photographs are really great too. Lance at 4 with his two cats – Tommie and Tootsie – you’ve got to love it!
Lost City Of Z A Tale Of Deadly Obsession In The Amazon
By David Grann
I’m drawn to books like this – Shackleton’s Endurance, quests to find Hillary Scott’s remains on Mt. Everest, attempts to explain Amelia Earhart’s disappearance – which have a particular blend of mystery, time travel and research I find enjoyable and often compelling.
This one centers around acclaimed New Yorker writer David Grann doing his utmost best to find original sources that will let him retrace the route into the Amazon that British explorer Percy Harrison Fawcett took in his quest to find El Dorado or the city of “Z” as he called it. Fawcett himself, along with his son Jack and Raleigh Rimell vanished in 1925 while searching for this lost city know for its signs of beauty, culture and advancement.
What is really very impressive is the extent of effort made by Mr. Grann in creating this book. He not only seemingly interviews every remaining relative or associate of PHF, including getting original sources and diaries by visiting Fawcett’s granddaughter Joan in Wales, tracking down journals from his WWI Military unit, traveling to the offices of the Royal Geographic Society in London and to a map archive in Sao Paulo, Brazil – he ultimately goes into the Amazon region himself to check things out!
This immediately amps up the action after he starts out a little like Bill Bryson preparing for his Appalachian Trail attempt. Grann is totally immersed in finding the truth some 80 years later and his expedition experience is complete with deadly insects, piranhas (and other worse jungle menaces!), still hostile Indian tribes and difficult terrain. His descriptions pull no punches as you feel him becoming more deeply obsessed with this research mission.
It should be noted that the author is an excellent storyteller and makes great use of many historical documents in presenting this fascinating biographical mystery adventure.
Deserving of its place on many best of the year lists – the bibliography alone is a treasure trove of historic resources related to all manner of archaeology and exploration, early British explorers, nomads, Indian tribes, early discoveries and more. He references sources from Fawcett’s prolific writer son Brian (Exploration Fawcett 1953) up through the very recent book 1491.
Well done!
There Will Be Blood
Wow! This 2007 movie lives up to its accolades as an American epic, with Daniel Day-Lewis earning an Academy Award for best actor for his mesmerizing portrayal of oil prospector/land speculator/entrepreneur Daniel Plainview. Set in the dust bowl areas of California between 1898 and 1927, Day-Lewis is riveting as a swindling, greedy boss out for land in his quest for his ever-expanding oil drilling operations.
I was sometimes reminded of a few other favorite films, including Paper Moon, No Country for Old Men (in the ironic, elliptical discussions between Plainview and devoutly religious Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), whose main concern is always The Church (he is also a healer and has some hilarious early scenes) and Dead Man (especially in the belching, clacking soundtrack, composed by Johhny Greenwood of Radiohead).
This movie is full of great acting, surrealistic scenes and dark humor. Plainview negotiating with the Standard Oil executives is one such scene. Some of his memorable lines include “I really don’t like people” and “I like all religions…” (the latter as he tries to assuage the townspeople early on that he is sincere in his plans).
The cinematography is often stunning (Academy Award winning, in fact. Comparisons to Citizen Kane are not out of place.) as in the scenes involving building the oil drilling apparatus against the western skies. This is quite a long film and the tension and turmoil builds throughout as Daniel becomes embroiled in conflicts as the ultimate capitalist, obsessed beyond his wits against the determined preacher. Like in HBO’s late great Carnivale series, this central battle at times reaches crazy, epic, disturbing proportions.
A film based on Upton Sinclair’s 1927 novel “Oil”, this one is not to be missed!
Whole Lotta Zeppelin: The Illustrated History of the Heaviest Band of All Time By Jon Bream
This book is truly great. For anyone interested in a band that really made its own rules while creating some timeless and never equaled rock music, this large book will satisfy you on many levels.
This is a comprehensive, lavishly illustrated history with all the bases covered; tour diaries and dates, memorabilia shots, complete reviews of their recordings by various writers, interviews, timelines, recollections and fascinating stories. The band members certainly have their say through various excerpted interviews as well.
The picture of Jimmy Page ordering at a Howard Johnson’s restaurant circa ‘68 is priceless alone, but this book also filled in many gaps in my Zep knowledge, including manager Peter Grant’s involvement in many incidents, the source of their early bluesy material, and how their music continued to evolve up through 1980. It also includes a close look at their film The Song Remains the Same and covers their 2007 London reunion performance with Jason Bonham on drums as well as an extensive discography.
I can remember when an older brother put headphones on me around 1973 and boggled my mind with the solo from “Heartbreaker” when I was about 10 years old. While we can’t go back in time this book will take you through the years with many excellent guest writers and critics, sound engineers and fellow musicians who share personal recollections. Like the band and their career, an enthralling tour de force!
Throw Down your Heart: tales from the acoustic planet Vol. 3 Africa sessions
by Bela Fleck
Anyone who saw the engrossing documentary on PBS some months ago or packed into the Belcourt Theatre one hot Sunday evening for a one time showing (with a special appearance by Bela) of Throw Down your Heart knows what this is all about.
This is the soundtrack that resulted from the ambitious trip made by Bela Fleck to several African countries in early 2005 to, essentially, “bring the banjo home” and jam with many outstanding musicians and groups in places like Uganda, Tanzania, Madagascar and Mali.
I’ve always enjoyed the purity and spirit of various African musical styles, and my Hi life compilations and King Sunny Ade juju recordings prepared me somewhat, but this is some really far-reaching, varied and impressive music! Eighteen tracks, many featuring serious polyrhythms, djembe drums, various stringed instruments along with possibly the thumb piano or even a giant wooden miramba comprise this soundtrack. Vocalists can be anyone from Oumou Sangare to a group of villagers.
Some of my favorites are the funky, bass heavy D’Gary Jam and the sublime title track which features raga like drones, ngoni (the banjo of Mali) runs and Bela’s intricate picking. What a tour de force! Zawose features some amazing gogo singing styles by an entire family that may sound jarring at first but is really unique. The song Mariam features phenomenally fast African guitarist Djrlimady Tounkara in a duet of sorts with Bela. Wow!
Overall, the first several tracks drew me in with really interesting and varied vocal stylings then after the title track I was thoroughly mesmerized by tracks 10 through till the end. In short, this is more about the fantastic musicians of Africa and their instruments; Bela Fleck often fades into the background and lets them shine.
A wonderful project; great documentary and superb soundtrack!
Phil
Finding Amelia: the true story of the Earhart disappearance
by Ric Gillespie
Inspired by the fine movie starring Hillary Swank as Amelia, and my general lack of knowledge about America’s most famous missing person’s last flight, I decided to read a few books on the topic. This one stood out as the best of the three I read.
Her last flight, with somewhat dubious navigator Fred Noonan (I always thought it was a solo flight) went wrong somewhere over the Central Pacific after they left New Guinea on July 2nd, 1937 with the intention of landing on a recently built runway on tiny Howland Island.
This book is a comprehensive, detail-packed account of the last few legs of the flight and is particularly strong in presenting information about the communication transmissions, the attempts at rescue by the Coast Guard and Naval ships and possibilities about what may have happened to lead to this disappearance, without much trace.
Mr. Gillespie, an internationally recognized expert on the Earhart disappearance, debunks some myths and speculations with numerous factual references in a very readable and compelling style. He definitely makes you feel the urgency of husband George Putnam’s many communications in trying to expand and extend the fruitless searches.
I was also really intrigued with the included DVD which contains numerous diagrams of search patterns, radio transmission logs, telegrams, Naval and Coast Guard documents and most fascinating, “Betty’s Notebook.” This is a scan of what 16 year old Betty Klenck is to have jotted down while listening to a shortwave radio broadcast in early July 1937 in St. Petersburg, Florida (her father rigged a super strong antenna in their yard). It presents fragments of what appears to be a distressed Earhart and Noonan communicating in their crashed plane, exact location unknown.
A very well done book on one of America’s most enduring mysteries.
- Phil
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