LINES OF THE DAY

". . . But the past does not exist independently from the present. Indeed, the past is only past because there is a present, just as I can point to something over there only because I am here. But nothing is inherently over there or here. In that sense, the past has no content. The past -- or more accurately, pastness -- is a position. Thus, in no way can we identify the past as past." p. 15

". . . But we may want to keep in mind that deeds and words are not as distinguishable as often we presume. History does not belong only to its narrators, professional or amateur. While some of us debate what history is or was, others take it into their own hands." p. 153

Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (1995) by Michel-Rolph Trouillot

Saturday, May 23, 2009

"How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music

(Oxford Press) by Elijah Wald is now officially published and available.

You can learn more about the book and Elijah's tour here.

Opinion of this work here in Casa de la Zorra is very, very high. If you have an interest in music and / or the history of this nation, this is a book you need to read.

Elijah describes his book in his own words in this a.m.'s e-mail:

[ "Basically, after writing "Escaping the Delta" it began to bother me that virtually all pop music history has been written by roots, jazz and rock fans--people like me--who tend to take pride in our unique tastes and despise mainstream pop. And we tend to write the history of what we like
rather than the history of what happened. So this is an attempt to give a clearer picture of how
pop music evolved, looking at changing dancestyles, technologies, and the lives of working musicians and regular listeners from the dawn of ragtime to the dawn of disco--with some fun stories to back it all up." ]

This is a summer and fall of music and history books -- very good books -- published by our friends, including Greg Grandin's Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City (Metropolitan), also in June. Not to mention The Year Before the Flood (August)!


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