Book Reviews

ENTERTAINMENT Hollywood Lesbians EdKed by Boze Hadleigh Barricade Books, 265 pgs., $21 .95 Reviewed by Kevin Howell Staff member at Little Professor Book Center Boze Hadleigh's "Hollywood Lesbians" is a treasure trove of queer film lore - straight (pardon the expression) from the mouths of 1 0 of moviedom's most successful sapphics. This illuminating and compulsivety readable book features interviews with three comediennes (Marjory Main, Nancy Kuip, and Patsy Kelly), two nonthespians (eight-time Oscar-winning costume designer EdithHead and director DorothyArzner), and five dramatic actresses (Barbara Stanwyck, Agnes Moorehead, Sandy Dennis, Capucine, and Dame Judith Anderson.) Atthough Hadleigh didn't publish these interviews untilafter all 10 had díed (justas he didwith his1 987 "ConversationsWrthMy Elders" inwhich he had revealing talks with Rock Hudson, Sal Mineo, George Cukor and others), as an interviewer he is f erociousty f earless, articúlate, schoJarty and unflappable. Some of the exchanges between Hadleigh and his subjects are as brittie, audacious and revealing as an Edward Albee play. When Hadleigh meets some tough customers who absolutety refuse to out themselves, the interviews go ballistic. Eighty-year-old Barbara Stanwyck gets so rattled when he asks her about her lavendar (studio-arranged) marríageto Robert Taylor, she ends the interview, telling him, " Just please get out!" Ninety-two-year-old Judith Anderson begins her interview saying, "I do hope you're going to ask some stimulating questions. Most interviews I put up with are weak as water." By the end of the interview she is glaring with both fists denched. When he asks her, "If you come out now at ninetyplus, howcould it possibty harmyou?" "Itcouldn't!" she roars. "But I wouldn't come out in a million years. Why should I? I owe nothing! They never gave me anything.... Everybody just leave me alone!!" Marjorie Main starts off cautiously, but after she's warmed up she outs a surprising number of actresses0nduding Jean Arthur, Spring Byington, Kay Frands, Delores Del Rio, Mildred Natwick, Alexis Smith, ülian Gish, Janet Gaynor, Mary Martin and BeaUllie). Most of those interviewed are comfortable, yet cagey. Many speak frankty but stop short of using Ihe "L"-word. Only Capudne and Patsy Kelly proudly embrace their sexual orientation ("l'm a dyke," says Kelly, "So what? Big deal!!"). The formidable Agnes Moorehead gives the most thought-provoking answers. She tries to bulty Hadleigh away from thetough questions, but finally relente. She articulateJy argües against making any statement that will later be used to encapsulate her entire life. She says, "If I make a statement to you now, it wil I be used and misin terpreted, and one way or another will represent me, if it's controversial or shocking enough, in who knowshow many future books? As anactress, l'm used to this. I have no option. As a person, I do. ...Although my career might be described or capsulated in a few paragraphs by some writers, I won't let that happen to my life." She doses her interview with a quote that sums up the reason so many gays and lesbians keep themse) ves mprisoned in the doset "It's an unavoidable truth: Fear of life doses off more opportunrbes f or us than f ear of death ever does." "Hollywood Lesbians" is an important book because it puts some familiar faces to the label iesbian." A straight friend said to me, "tt shouldn't matter if Barbara Stanwyck is a Iesbian." But it does matter as long as homophobia thrives on keeping gays, lesbians and bisexuals faceless, nameless and closeted. This book is not about finding role models; if s about creating visibilrty. TRUE CRIME Charmer by Jack Oteen William Morrow & Co., 367 pgs., $23 Reviewed by Jamie Agnew Owner of Aunt Agatha's, a mystery and true crime book store Although it 's not a new genre, 'True Crime" is a newty codified one. Along with "New Age"it'sprobablythelatesttogetitsownsignand shelf spacein most bookstores- the cultural dust hasn't really settJed around it yet Although some highbrows like Mailer and Capote have gone slumming, it still remains sJightfy declasse, the sort of thing you'd buy in a drug store or airport ratherthaninaplacewhere the cafe is latte and the (SEE NEXT PAGE) (CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE) Ph.D. book derks curi their lips as if you were buying something by Anonymous. There ; something pomographic about True Crime, not in the sense that if s designed to titillate, but in the sense that its exposing something that for comfort' s sake should remain hidden. No matter how lurid a regular crime novel is, the reader can always console themselves with the fact of its fictiveness.With true crime there'snosuch solace. After all it is true and what remains is that for which there is no consolation- theterrifying unjust, inexplicable randomness of violence, and the inhumanity of a being who by any Standard appears human. Thoseofuswhocanwithstandthebookclerk's sneer know that there are two relative giants in the field- Ann Rule and Jack Ofsen. Although Rule won the Edgar award for "Everything She Ever Wanted" lastyear, I found 01 sen 's "The Misbegotten Son" by far the better book. Olsen's in the groove again with his latest, "Charmer." Uke all good True Crime, "Charmer" is the story of acrimina! ratherthan the story of acrime. George Russel is first seen as a forlom black boy in a teenage wasteland of affluent suburbia, Mercer Island, Washington. Osen uses a collage method, framing long direct quotes from people who knew Russel with journaliste commentary to produce a cubist portrait of a fractured personality . Since his crimes aren't revealed until they occur, we read with avid horror RusseU's "slow escalation from lonely child to troubled adolescent to antisocial manipulator to sadistic killer." The end result is a True Crime version of Melville's "The Confidence Man," a visión of a malevolent, perversely creative figure with "no emotionai attachment to mankind," as many faces as observers, and no essential personality except the blind desire to manipúlate others in order to domínate ev&y situation. The sociopathpsychopath is a figure that although not unique to our century is fast becoming emblematic of it, and this is as good a snapshot of one as we'll ever get. My only cnticism is that there are not photographs of Russell - part of the guilty pleasure of True Crime is looking the devil in the eye. "pSImcALsaËNcÊ" The Uses of Haïti By Paul Farmer Common Courage Press, 374 pgs., $14.95 Reviewed by Lou Hillman Staff member at üttte Professor Book Center The Uses of Haïti" is a textbook study of how politica! economy, military and media opérate together in a brutal system of oppression for profit-and all under the flag of the "free market." Asan American physician in Hato, Farmer writestodemysitfy and demythologize the popular conceptions of Haiti and Hs relation to the U.S. The book is scholarty writing at its finest- it blends personal, specialist and popular discourses with its historical narrative. The effect is one of making Watantiy real, the horrifying efforts of uninhibited power. Of the many myths that Farmer breaks down, thefirstisthatof Haiti'sisolation. Farmer showsjust how intimately the political economies of the U.S. and Haiti have been enmeshed. A second myth he dspels is that of "American benificence." On the contrary.ourgovemmenthastrainedandfinanced the death squads who wage war against unarmed citizens. A third issue he addresses is that the AIDS virus somehoworiginated in Haiti. Farmer attempts to show how HlVcameto Haiti from North America But perhapsthemostdisturbing aspect of "The Uses of Haiti" is how these misconceptions are spread, chiefly by the American mainstream media The author quotes heavily from The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic magazine and other American media He shows how "misinformation" serves the interests of the rich and how the American people have- to put it bluntty - been lied to. The real story of the Haitian people should be a familiar one. The indigenous natives are wiped out in European conquest; enter an agri-slave trade witri the colonies and the continent of Europe; peasant and slave revolt, resutting in massaere aft er massacre; and industrializaron providing slave-wages and a terrify ing pólice state. The story couldbeMexico's,orEISalvadorJs,orGuatemala's. But Farmer suppties all the details which make "The Uses of Haiti" distincöy Haitian- and American. Farfrom pretending objecti vity, Farmertellsthe stories no one likes to hear. The writing style is clear and coherent and is accessible to anyone who might wish to leam more about our country's foreign policy. One question which remains is: "Can Americans, will Americans palate this necessary corrective?" (Exceptional, nterestmg, Ptovoc&üvb of InfËsponsMjio) Popular Music Books of 1934 Reviewed by William Shea BOOKS REVIEWED IN THIS ARTICLE: Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Ehris Presley By Peter Guralnick. üttle, Brown & Company, 560 pages, $24.95. Hole In Our Sotri: The Loss of Beauty and Mean i ng In American Popular Music By Martha Bayles. The Free Press, 453 pages, $24.95. Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America By Trida Rose. Wesleyan University Press, 237 pages, $14.95. From Tinfoil to Stereo: The Acoustic Years of the Recording Industry 1877-1929 By Walter L Welch and Leah Brodbeck Stenzel Burt University Press of Florida, 21 2 pages, $39.95. There are generally two questions that come to mind with the release of every new book about "The King" Bvis Presley: Why do we need another book on Elvis? And what is it about El vis that makes him so culturally important? In some cases the answer to the first question is: to keep the rumor mili which perpetuates "celebrityness" going. And often the answer to the second question centers around some hatf-baked theory about "celebrityness" and cultural change in America But occasionally an author takes these questions seriously and attempts to give us reasoned and plausible answers. Peter Guralnick is one such author. Through a detailed and comprehensive examination of the first 23 years of Presley 's lif e - up until Presley entered the Army in 1958- Guralnick shows us the strong social conditions surrounding Presley 's early years and offers a reasonabie explanation as to why he became a larger-than-life figure- largertrianany otherentertainerin the midfifties. Guralnick meticulously flushes out the southem cultural milieu around Túpelo, Mississippi and central Memphis where Elvis grew up. The complex cultural and social context of race relations, familial relations, rural poverty, teenage angst, and a diverse mixture of musical styles - delta blues, commercial country music, revival singing and southem gospel music- are all steadfast concütions influencing Presles rockabillygospelpop sound. They are also offered by Guralnick as explanations for Presles enduring popularity. Besides giving the reader a good cultural history, Guralnick also gives an even-handed explanation of the business deal ings that opened many opportunities for Presley.From the southem camival circuit exploited so well by Presles manager Colonel Torn Parker, to the bidding war between Columbia and RCA recording companies with Presles recording contract owner Sam Phillips, to the televisión celebrities (The Dorsey Brothers, Steve Allen, EdSullivan) who were willing todo (and pay)virtuallyanythingtoget Presley on theirshows, we see how much of what happened to Presley was completely out of his hands. The result of all Guralnick's work and analysis is a first-rate biography, well-researched, readable, insightful and purposeful. Bayles' thesis is that commerce cannot take the entire Wame for the loss of beauty and meaning in popular music. According to the author, the repugnant sexism, vulgarism and ity found in much of rap, rock, and heavy metal comes from three axes: 1) "the complex racial dynamic of American culture"; 2) "the transformation of popular music by high technolgy"; and 3) "the anarchistic, nihilstic impulses of perverse modemism...." On the surf ace one might think that Bayl es is in thesameanti-rockpoprap camp as conservati ve critic Allen BI oom, but one should not be too quick to judge. Although her generalizations are reductionist, summing up far too many disparate elements into her visión of what's ailing popular music, there is often a feeling that Bayles might be on to something. Herdelineation of the influence of technolgy on music is right on, and when she argües that there are three types of modemism influencing popular music - introverted, extroverted and perverse - her position is compelling. But to cali her view more than that is to give Bayles more credit than she deserves. Much of the problem Bayles sees in popular music sterns from The Rolling Stones and their "arrogantJy rude" behavior. According to Bayles, The Stones' "perversity" has wreaked so much havocon popular music that the fundamental core of its beauty and meaning has been immutably stained. Is this so? Has the Stones' song "Sympathy For The Devil" truly tainted all that is beautiful in popular music? I doubt it. And this is the problem with Bayles' provocative work. While she takes great pains to show us the "historicalness" of popular music - that is, the many influences that go into the great evolving world of popular music - she clings to the notion that the ruination of popular music comes from three rather static axes all of which have been around at least 1 00 years. What Bayles seems to forget is that the same elements that so denígrate popular music are the same elements that witters and performers often work against when producing their truty "beautiful and meaningful" music she so likes. In other words, Bayles f al Is to see the good in all this "bad" stuff - that the "good" popular music Bayles likes probably would not even exist without the "bad" stuff she hates. As problematic and convincing as Bayles' argument seems to be, it ultimately comes up short To Bayles, "to change our tune about artistic matters" we must get rid of those elements in popular music that make it so vital and important its diversity, its sound, and its attitude. For some reason, l'm against this! Trida Rose tells an interesting story about an encounter she had with a chairperson of a music department she was visiting. After briefly discussing her interest in rap music the chairperson casually announced, "You must be writing on rap's social impact and political lyrics because there's nothing to the music." "They ride down the street at 2 am with it blasting from car speakers, and (they) wake up my wif e and kids," he continued. "What's the point in that?" Rose immediately thought about the slaves who were prohibited from playing African drums because, as a vehicle for coded communicatjon, they inspired fear in the slaveholders. Rose suggested to the chairperson that indeed rap was more complicated than it seemed. Rose's purpose in this book is to dig beneath the surface and examine rap's complexities. Rose select vety limits her scope to rap's connection to New York's postindustrial urban terrain, which she claims is the home of rap. She studies the interconnectedness of orality and technology in the music, rap's racial politics (particulariy the media' s and instrtutjonai response to it), and rap's sexual politics mainly from the point of view of female rappers. She ultimately hopes that her analysis of rap will lead to the unfamiliar and perhaps unintelligible becoming increasingly absorbed and understood. I think she succeeds. This book is an important addition to the study of popular culture and music. It is not an easy or fast read because of the oft-imposing jargon of critica! theory, but Rose's clear thinking, for the most part, transcends this criticism. Rose, in her own way, does an admirable job of offering one answer to the question: Why is music popular? Both Bayles and Rose see a connection between technology and popular music. Both see that technology is more than the convergence of method and means. LJkethe stereo pingpong effect heard on many '50 and '60's records, the screaming electie guitar of heavy metal, the (SEE PAGE 21) BOOK REVIEW (FROM PAGE 16) ethereal sounds of the synthesizer, the pervasive boom of '70s Disco music, and the connected ness of orality and teen nol - ogy found in rap, an understanding of the history of the machinery of sound recording and its manipulation isimperativetoan understanding of popular music. Oliver Read and Walter Welch first wrote "From Tinfoil to Stereo" in 1959. Over the years, greater research in the area of sound production, particularly in England, hasbroughtgreaterclaritytothis area - and henee this 1994 revisión and expansión (by Welch and Brodbeck Stenzel Burt - Read has since passed away) of the earlier volume. Although this volume only touches on the first 50 years or so of the recording industry, it offers an excellent example of first-rate research and a well-thought-out theoretical matrix that has been lacking for some time. From this voulme we see the technological struggles that went into early sound production and the industrial in-fighting between antagonistic advocates of one technogical format (the cylinder) versus another (the disk). We see how technological considerations.f rom the earliest days of recording, had tremendous impact on just exactly what type of music we listeners were going to get. IntheendWelchand BrodbeckStenzel Burt teil a f ascinati n g story. Perhaps this is not recommended to the causual reader, but if you wonder what makes music popular, this book is one of the best places to begin your investigaron.