PanPop MattersThere’s very little of what we could sensibly consider ‘modern song’ in The Philosophy of Modern Song, and any ‘philosophy’ is strictly of the cracker barrel variety. That’s ok, though, because we’ve learned never to take Dylan at face value, and the title was just too pretentious to have been meant seriously. The book’s content, though, is another matter. The puzzle facing the reader as they wade through this text is whether the ‘essays’ within are intended entirely or only partly as a piss-take ... The reality, though, is that it just isn’t very good ... The length of each ‘essay’ varies quite a bit, the quality even more so. Some are quite interesting if only inasmuch as anything Bob Dylan chooses to write for publication is quite interesting. Some of these essays seem to have had some thought put into them; many feel phoned in. The riffs, in particular, are written in prose that comes across as sloppy, undisciplined, and dashed off. Atmospherically, they often read like sub-par noir pastiche. The sort of thing Raymond Chandler might have scribbled down if he’d suffered a concussion during a bad acid trip ... It’s all a bit sophomoric and stale: is there anyone alive who likes early rock ‘n’ roll but needs to be apprised of Little Richard’s erotic proclivities or the song’s overtones of non-vanilla sex? ... don’t make for a great collection. Yes, Dylan has done the expected by doing the unexpected, but I’d rather he wrote about a much more obvious list of artists, and I’d rather listen to them too ... The writing is formulaic, lazy, and repetitive. Particularly when you read many chapters in a row, you can’t help noticing this ... When not being a crusty old curmudgeon, Dylan is still capable of coining a pithy phrase or two, and his sense of humor seems intact ... Yet again, the reader is left wondering why this sort of thing has been published. Yes, it can be published because Dylan sells (these days) and can seemingly do no wrong. But why would anyone want to write this garbage, particularly under their name?
Peter Robison
PositiveThe Arts Desk (UK)]A] clear-eyed, anger-inducing account of these avoidable tragedies ... Boeing’s story is long, its cast of characters large, and inevitably, despite Robison’s skill in providing concise potted biographies, many become the dramatis personae equivalent of flyover country. Some do stand out, though ... Robison has a keen eye for detail, and for tracking the destructive influence wielded by some of Boeing’s more egregious executives ... Robison casts a cold eye on the callousness of the Boeing executives. He doesn’t pull any punches in his descriptions of their personal demeanors, or what this says about their underlying lack of humanity ... As a business reporter publishing his debut book, Robison should be saluted for tackling this sorry tale in such an honest, straight-dealing manner ... [An] important, elegantly written but ultimately depressing book.
