It is a great book! 5 1/2 stars all the way!
Sincerely, Mary Ann Nalbone
List price: $27.50 (that's 30% off!)
Boogaloo outlines the consistent threads that run through black music from the early 20th century onwards, from its early roots in blues and the church, to the soul and funk years, up to the hip hop of today. Kempton uses the lives and music of Thomas Dorsey, Sam Cooke, Barry Gordy, George Clinton, Tupac Shakur and other hip hop artists as the examples of the evolution of these threads. But this work is far more that a stylish review of different styles of black music.There are a number of broader themes at work here. One constant is a demonstration of the evolution of how black music has been marketed to young whites. Perhaps most importantly, Kempton sees popular culture as one of america's greatest exports, and black culture (in particular its music) at the heart of this, and his book is in part a demonstration of how this came to be.
One of the beauties of Kempton's accomplishment is that he doesn't always make explicit the connections in order to outline these themes, he allows the reader to do this for himself. With his particular selection of players and incidents from such a vast subject matter, combined with his own obvious love of the subject, and his wry humor and insights, Arthur Kempton has supplied us with both a revelatory and stylish treatise on black music, that in the process reveals much about american culture. He makes it clear in his short preface that this has been a life long study - and there is no doubt that anyone seriously interested in these subjects should take advantage of that study by reading this book. Besides that, it is totally cool and fun.
Berger's compelling examination of the "commonplace" in our culture exposes core American behaviors of consumerism and denial in an entertaining, insightful manner, in tandem with wry and whimsical humor.
Illustrating the book's 36 essays are Berger's own delightful drawings which are reminiscent of Thurber's in their simplicity of gesture.
His concise introduction and conclusion offers the reader background information on semiotics and postmodernist philosophy.
In Bloom's Morning, Berger peels back layer after layer of the "trivial" to reveal the myths of our psyches shrouded in the mundane, opening our minds to the mysteries of our lives.