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Lucking Out: My Life Getting Down And Semi-Dirty In The Seventies (2011)

by James Wolcott(Favorite Author)

3.38 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0385527780 (ISBN13: 9780385527781)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Doubleday

review 1: Wolcott is so in love with his own energy that this book is almost infectiously readable...but not quite, as the hundreds of wacky analogies on practically every single page suggest he's more intent on amazing himself with his verbal pyrotechnics than he is in responding to and documenting sensitively the times he's recollecting here. That said, some of the sections here - particularly his recollections of Patti Smith - were really beautiful. His tenure at the Village Voice is also evoked here quite hilariously. There's just too much Wolcott and not enough New York in here in the end...the final chapter on ballet felt like a tag-on, and even Wolcott himself seemed a bit tired of his own histrionics at this stage.Still...I wish I had his energy and enthusiasm for wri... moreting!
review 2: A fabulous coming-of-age memoir by a cultural critic who writes beautifully. His description of his relationship with Pauline Kael is etched with the precision and flowing style of a master calligrapher. His chapter on his relationship with the emerging downtown punk scene is wholly unexpected and delightful. Lou Reed comes off somewhat better than in Nick Kent's acid portrayal. The chapter on his falling in love with ballet and becoming a ballet critic was enjoyable, despite my knowing nothing about ballet. The various stories about the politics of the Village Voice were a great deal f fun to read. less

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