A different kind of book review for me

FRED SCHRUERS enjoyed a successful high-profile career as a writer at Rolling Stone, chronicling an impressive body of musicians and actors, including Fleetwood Mac, Bruce Springsteen, Jack Nicholson, Sheryl Crow, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Chris Rock. His writing has also appeared in Premiere, Entertainment Weekly, Men’s Journal, GQ, the Los Angeles Times, and Columbia Journalism Review.

This review is a little different than my normal reviews in a few ways. First because it doesn't deal with art or comics. Second because I didn't enjoy it all that much. Billy Joel is one of my all-time favorite recording artists and I love biographies so I thought this would be a match made in Heaven. Unfortunately, I was wrong. There is no failure on the author's part to chronicle Joel's career and his life and love's along the way. It just seems to be a lot of sizzle but no steak.

The first part of the Joel saga, detailing his family's origins in Germany and subsequent flight and degradations suffered due to the Nazi rise to power and opportunistic grabbing of assets by unscrupulous business rivals is both engaging and offers information I certainly never knew of the singer's legacy. Subsequent chapters fail offer as much attention holding details while still offering heretofore unknown information.

Maybe it's because there hasn't been the "Behind The Music" type scandals and pitfalls to Joel's life that my interest wasn't riveted to the page. Joel comes off as a normal working stiff who just wants the same thing out of life that we all want; love, contentment, happiness and family. The fact that he makes his living making great music and has amassed (and lost) a fortune doesn't take away from that. Joel comes across as a guy i'd love to have a beer with and just shoot the breeze. The author can certainly be praised for bringing that aspect of Joel across vividly.

Most people that would want to read about Billy Joel in the first place would be aware of his being ripped off by his management, about his marriages and divorces and about his driving trouble. Not everyone would be knowledgable about how well read he is, how much he loves boats and the water or about his ability to cook noodles and red sauce that he "would stack up against any other amateur's efforts". I wasn't aware that his driving troubles did not involve alcohol even though he later went to rehab for his drinking problems. I was also not aware that Joel is an atheist and that personally hurts me more than I can say.

While this won't make my list of top biographies about a favorite celebrity, it is by no means bereft of value. I would categorize this as a good diversion or a beach read. Something to read that can give one hope that not all celebrities are self-absorbed, out for myself, give me more I deserve this jerks. Joel strikes me as a down-to-earth, too trusting and too easy to forgive others person who is doing what he was meant to do. Giving the world some of the greatest music ever heard.

I just wish the author had made it more coherent than he has. Sometimes the timeline seems jumbled as he goes through the years. His style is pleasant enough to read, but whether it is a lack on his part or mine, the narrative gets confusing at times. Overall I'm not sorry I read this book but I don't feel my life is now complete for having done so.

I received this book from Blogging For Books for this honest review.

Review: The Realism Challenge: Drawing and Painting Secrets from a Modern Master of Hyperrealism by Mark Crilley

 Review: The Realism Challenge: Drawing and Painting Secrets from a Modern Master of Hyperrealism by Mark Crilley


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mark Crilley was raised in Detroit, Michigan. After graduating from Kalamazoo College, he traveled to Taiwan and Japan, where he taught English for nearly five years. It was during his stay in Japan that he created Akiko. In 1998, Mark Crilley was named to Entertainment Weekly’s “It List” of the 100 most creative people in entertainment.

Being a subscriber to Crilley's YouTube series of drawing tutorials, I was looking forward to reading his new book reviewed here. I was not disappointed. From a simple torn piece of paper to an etched glass decanter to "the ultimate realism challenge" at the end of the book, Crilley proves worthy of the subtitle's appellation. 

There are a total of Thirty challenges Crilley presents for one to try and emulate. While a book of this sort will sometimes come off as repetitive, Crilley manages to mostly avoid this by adding new bits of information or technique as he goes along. Of course not every challenge will be to everyone's tastes but with 30 to choose from, there are more than enough to engage one's imagination and give it a try.

This book could certainly prove daunting to the beginner artist in that it can be intimidating at the assumption that one can dive right in, with minimal instruction, and reproduce the projects herein. Crilley does emphasis patience and practice but I'm not sure there is enough instruction going on here. Everything is spelled out step-by-step but only finished examples are shown. The book itself would have benefitted by allowing the reader to see the process itself from time to time. 

All in all, Crilley's book is certainly worth the time to read and try one's own hand at the challenges. It will give one a new appreciation for this time-honored tradition of art and also of Crilley's talent.

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this honest review."