benwasson's reviews
13 reviews

Death and the King's Horseman by Wole Soyinka

4.0

some bits are lost in translation, but the tragedy of this play is special and unmistakably profound — a great introduction to African literature 

The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

4.25

vonnegut’s imagination is as boundless as his universes, and his give-no-fucks style makes me reconsider the idea of style itself (re-read)

Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin

5.0

furious brilliance shines like a sweeping, heavenly light in Baldwin’s prose, which is actually more poetic than anything; this novel is lyrically electric, thematically rich, and contains a rare feeling of abandonment and lost-ness that so perfectly grips its subject 

Miles: The Autobiography by Quincy Troupe, Miles Davis

4.0

miles was a jazz veteran whose legacy is only reaffirmed by the insight and commentary found here (not to mention dion graham’s wonderfully gritty vocal performance)

Airships by Barry Hannah

3.0

a couple of good, lengthier stories are bogged down by vulgar and sometimes outright nonsensical filler material

Novelist as a Vocation by Haruki Murakami

3.75

the process of Murakami's writing is as groundedly eccentric as his writing itself; could certainly use some trimming, but insightful nonetheless

The Puglist at Rest by Thom Jones

4.5

a high-momentum collection of short stories, the best of which are about war and fighting. Jones has a sensitivity that separates him from the Hemingways and Bukowskis of the world, and I’ll be reading more of him soon

Cinema Speculation by Quentin Tarantino

3.75

tarantino is a director, not a writer. the insight here is interesting, though, and listening to quentin’s voice is worth it just for the intonation

Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins

4.25

magical journey of a man’s millenium-long life packed with philosophy, sensuality, and most of all, humor — a contender for the funniest book I’ve read

The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin

3.75

hard to rate; a splattering of short lessons on creativity and the creative process gathered over rick rubin’s decades-long career as the musical equivalent to a buddhist basketball coach