biography
V.24 No.14 | 4/2/2015
Book Review
Flaws and All
Boris Johnson’s The Churchill Factor personalizes a legend
The Churchill Factor: How One Man Made History
Former journalist and London mayor Boris Johnson’s vigorous, readable take reveals the legend for what he was—human, flawed and interesting as hell.
V.23 No.51 | 12/18/2014
Book Review
Boom For Real
Widow Basquiat: A Love Story
A revealing and sometimes dark love story shows that pioneering ’80s artist Jean-Michel Basquiat was more than the “Radiant Child.”
V.23 No.48 | 11/27/2014
Film Review
The Theory of Everything
Love is a black hole in surprisingly romantic Stephen Hawking biopic
Love is a black hole in the surprisingly romantic Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything.
V.23 No.45 | 11/6/2014
Aural Fixation
From virus to solstice
Wherein we preview Björk’s new concert film Biophilia Live—screening this weekend at Guild Cinema—and review new Metallica biography Into the Black: The Inside Story of Metallica (1991-2014).
V.23 No.44 | 10/30/2014
Get Lit
Young Neil: The Sugar Mountain Years
Get Lit proffers reviews of Sharry Wilson’s biography of childhood Neil Young, Young Neil, and Herbie Hancock’s autobiography, Possibilities.
V.23 No.39 | 9/25/2014
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Get Lit
Brian Jones: The Making of the Rolling Stones
New bio explores fallen rock star’s life and death
Journalist Paul Trynka’s latest bio, Brian Jones: The Making of the Rolling Stones, examines the existentence of a talented, tortured multi-instrumentalist.
V.23 No.30 | 7/24/2014
Film Review
Life Itself
Poignant documentary points the camera at the life of movie critic Roger Ebert
Filmmaker goes from being reviewed by Roger Ebert to making a movie about the famed critic’s final days in Life Itself.
V.23 No.28 | 7/10/2014
Book Review
O Canada
Crazy Town: The Rob Ford Story
Crazy Town is a good read for reasons that transcend the engrossing Rob Ford scandal.
V.23 No.16 | 4/17/2014
Get Lit
On the Periphery
David Sylvian solo career bio proves exhaustive
Wherein August March reviews dancing about architecture, specifically On the Periphery, a complex, scholarly biography of David Sylvian’s post-Japan solo career.
V.23 No.14 | 4/3/2014
Get Lit
A Man Called Destruction examines Chilton’s life and work
A Man Called Destruction, published on March 24, presents the reader with an unflinching portrait of the artist as a wrestler-with-demons working toward redemption. Chilton is best remembered as a gifted creator who fought to recover from the trauma of young fame by navigating a stormy sea.
V.23 No.4 | 1/23/2014
Book Review
Cher Me This …
It's a new biography, man.
Cher: Strong Enough
Most people know about Cher from her illustrious music career. Hits like “I Got You Babe” and “The Beat Goes On,” with her former husband and music partner Sonny Bono, put her in the public eye. But her solo hits “If I Could Turn Back Time” and “Believe”—which, I'll admit, was a personal obsession of mine as a child—are what catapulted her to iconic status.
V.22 No.51 | 12/19/2013
Book Review
Pulp Tweed
A Mysterious Something in the Light: The Life of Raymond Chandler
New biography of Raymond Chandler digs into why he began writing and why Hollywood hated him.
V.22 No.43 | 10/24/2013
Arts Profile
Fuzzy Operation
A vision of the father of Muppets
Brian Jay Jones’ new bio is an intimate portrait of a man who muppeted with guts.
