Archive for Author 'Bill Wolf', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.

The Medium is the Massage, An Inventory of Effects

by Marshall McLuhan & Quentin Fiore

A blast from the future past! What did the twenty-first century look like back in 1967? McLuhan’s classic book is no easier to read now than it was then even though some of his future is already our everyday present.

Janis Joplin

Janis Joplin

A book cover with scalloped edges? Nope, this is . . . a postage stamp! Nothing escapes our attention, especially if it’s well designed and of some cultural import. So there.

The Story of Music, From Babylon to The Beatles

by Howard Goodall

Humans communicate—music is communication. But it’s also much more than that. Some 40,000+ years of musical ideas, forms, and trends in the Western world are discussed here to make sense of it all.

Catwoman, The Life and Times of a Feline Fatale

by Suzan Colón

A fun pictorial tribute. If this book were about The Batman, it’d be called sexist. Can good graphic design trump mediocre content? Don’t reject this book out of hand—but don’t break the kitty for it either.

The Beatles, aka The White Album

The Beatles, aka The White Album

The Beatles, the group, and The Beatles the album, aka The White Album, seem destined to be with us always. Speedreaders takes a detailed look at a 2009 CD reincarnation.Obladi Oblada indeed.

Popeye In a Sock for Susan’s Sake

by Elzie Crisler Segar

Introduced in 1929, Popeye the Sailor Man became—and remains—a cartoon superstar. This classic Whitman Better Little Book is an unusual and quite pleasing venue for Popeye.

Bugatti Type 35C No. 4928, The Story of a Grand Prix Racing Car

by Lennart W. Haajanen

The author owned this particular Bug for 50 years and also raced and restored it. But it was only in researching it in preparation for this book that it was discovered that it had a different serial number than previously thought! A Very Big Deal for such an important car.

Surf’s Up – The Beach Boys on Record 1961–1981

by Brad Elliot

When all is said and done, the Beach Boys are the American band. This book explores in depth their recorded history.

The Best of Ernie Bushmiller’s Nancy

by Brian Walker

Eighty years old and Ernie Bushmiller’s Nancy is still around—and appreciated by many. She aged well.

All the Songs, The Story Behind Every BEATLES Release

by Jean-Michel Guesdon & Philippe Margotin

From fun facts to technical minutia, the Beatles 1963–70 song catalog is put under the microscope by two music historians.

The Martin Ukulele

by Tom Walsh and John King

All you ever wanted to know about Martin Ukuleles—and then some. But done with painstaking research and panache. A very likable book.

Mad Magazine

John Ficarra et al, and “The Usual Gang of Idiots”

“American Icon” is used accurately and fairly to describe Mad Magazine and its accompanying franchise. At 62 years of age, it is still youthful, relevant, and funny.

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