Craig Brown (1) (1957–)

This is a peculiar, mannered, compelling book. I read it end to end in two long sittings, at a somewhat deliberate pace. It made me feel at once like I was trawling through a middlebrow celebrity lifestyle omnibus of something like Heat magazine, whilst retaining an undeserved sense of self-regard about embarking on something rather more intellectually valuable than such. Compulsively digesting every page, enjoying the callbacks and repeated themes, never really with a firm grasp on where we were heading next or what I was learning. Enjoyably provocative..… (plus d'informations)

101 one-on-one meetings, each described in 1001 words, forming a celebrity daisy chain spanning about 150 years. It’s such a great idea for a book, and Brown with his parodist’s eye for human follies and foibles is in his element documenting the outlandish interactions, my favorite of which is definitely Bernard Shaw crashing his bicycle into Bertrand Russell. The tone is archly amiable and Brown is almost always sympathetic to his oddball subjects, although Sinatra and Hemingway get what you suspect they both deserved. T.S. Eliot and Groucho Marx are longtime penpals. Andy Warhol has a grudge against Nancy Reagan. You get the idea. You’ll get more or less out of these depending on your personal preference, and I’m sure there are more than a few shaggy dog stories here although Brown does list his sources at the back.

My only complaint, and you know it’s real when I’m complaining about this, is the lack of diversity among the 101 dramatis personae. By my count, 40 are from the world of entertainment, 31 from arts and letters, 25 from politics and society. Understandable I suppose that such types tend to make for better stories than scientists and athletes and businesspeople, but it starts to feel samey quite early on. What’s less forgivable are the gender — 82 men, 19 women — and color — all except Michael Jackson are white — balances.… (plus d'informations)