Patti Smith's Horses (33 1/3)

Patti Smith's Horses (33 1/3)
by Philip Shaw

Patti Smith's Horses (33 1/3)
List Price: $14.95
Our Price: $5.46
You Save: $9.49 (63%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions

Compare Prices for Patti Smith's Horses (33 1/3)

(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Philip Shaw
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-04-15
ISBN: 0826427928
Number of pages: 176
Publisher: Continuum

Book Reviews of Patti Smith's Horses (33 1/3)

Book Review: Probably not the best way to approach a rock and roll record
Summary: 4 Stars

Patti Smith's masterpiece *Horses* is probably more deserving than most rock and roll records of serious academic study, especially given that Smith steeped herself in both high culture and rock history before making it. The best parts of the book are its artistic biography of Smith prior to its release.

On the other hand, the book relies heavily on the "theory" of Jacques Lacan, Julia Kristeva, and other late twentieth century noncemongers, whose melange of Marx and Freud persuaded the academic Left to waste its days in unintelligible, irrelevant indolence for a time. This hurts.

Shaw, for example, makes note of the androgyny of Mapplethorpe's dramatic cover photograph. He's not the first to notice. He relates it quite properly to the dandyism cultivated by French symbolist poets such as Rimbaud and Baudelaire, artists that rank high in Smith's constellation of high culture influences. He goes on to describe the photograph as a statement that the "phallus is no more privileged than any other signifier", which does not appear to be meaningful, much less insightful. I'm not sure it contributes to understanding, even if kicking the privileged phallus is always fun. And he misses entirely the opportunity to compare Mapplethorpe's stark androgyny with the somewhat more baroque androgyny of male artists like David Bowie or Marc Bolan, which would appear to be immediately relevant in the context of Smith's Max's Kansas City days.

The high themes of sexuality and mortality run through the record. A Freudian take on the record is certainly a valid approach given these themes. Shaw's text is quite helpful when it doesn't go adrift in the lotus land of deconstruction. When it does, you can skip ahead a bit without missing anything.
Write your own review
More Patti Smith's Horses (33 1/3) reviews:
1

Summary of Patti Smith's Horses (33 1/3)

Described as the perfect fusion of poetry and garage band rock and roll (the original concept was "rock and Rimbaud"), Horses belongs as much to the world of literary and cultural criticism as it does to the realm of musicology. While Horses pays homage to the record's origins in the nascent New York punk scene, the book's core lies in a detailed analysis of Patti Smith's lyrics and includes discussions of lyrical preoccupations: love, sex, gender, death, dreams, god, metamorphosis, intoxication, apocalypse and transcendence. Philip shaw demonstrates how Horses transformed the possibilities of both poetry and rock music; and how it achieved nothing less than a complete and systematic derangement of the senses.

History & Criticism Books
Book Subjects
Most talked about in History & Criticism Books
KISS and Make-up ImageKISS and Make-up
by Gene Simmons
Crown; Published: 2001-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.29
Price in other shops: $25.95
Elvis Presley: A Life in Music : The Complete Recording Sessions ImageElvis Presley: A Life in Music : The Complete Recording Sessions
by Ernst Jorgensen
St Martins Pr; Published: 1998-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $199.48
The Devil's Horn: The Story of the Saxophone, from Noisy Novelty to King of Cool ImageThe Devil's Horn: The Story of the Saxophone, from Noisy Novelty to King of Cool
by Michael Segell
Picador; Published: 2006-08-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.81
Price in other shops: $16.00
Elvis: My Best Man: Radio Days, Rock 'n' Roll Nights, and My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley ImageElvis: My Best Man: Radio Days, Rock 'n' Roll Nights, and My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley
by George Klein, Chuck Crisafulli
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2011-01-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.49
Price in other shops: $15.00
Bill Evans: How My Heart Sings ImageBill Evans: How My Heart Sings
by Mr. Peter Pettinger
Yale University Press; Published: 1998-08-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $75.90
Microsound ImageMicrosound
by Curtis Roads
The MIT Press; Published: 2004-08-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $24.00
Price in other shops: $34.00
Hip Hop America ImageHip Hop America
by Nelson George
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2005-04-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.52
Price in other shops: $15.00
A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album ImageA Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album
by Ashley Kahn
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2003-10-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.74
Price in other shops: $16.00
Jazz Styles: History and Analysis (10th Edition) ImageJazz Styles: History and Analysis (10th Edition)
by Mark C. Gridley
Prentice Hall; Published: 2008-01-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $45.99
Price in other shops: $95.60
Dark Star: An Oral Biography of Jerry Garcia ImageDark Star: An Oral Biography of Jerry Garcia
by Robert Greenfield
It Books; Published: 2009-02-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.47
Price in other shops: $14.99
Similar Books and other products
Neil Young's Harvest (Thirty Three and a Third series) ImageNeil Young's Harvest (Thirty Three and a Third series)
by Sam Inglis
Continuum; Published: 2003-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.94
Price in other shops: $14.95
Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (33 1/3) ImagePublic Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (33 1/ 3)
by Christopher R. Weingarten
Continuum Pub Group; Published: 2010-04-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.71
Price in other shops: $10.95
Pink Floyd's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (Thirty Three and a Third series) ImagePink Floyd's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (Thirty Three and a Third series)
by John Cavanagh
Continuum; Published: 2003-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.89
Price in other shops: $14.95
Velvet Underground's The Velvet Underground and Nico (Thirty Three and a Third series) ImageVelvet Underground's The Velvet Underground and Nico (Thirty Three and a Third series)
by Joe Harvard
Continuum; Published: 2004-03-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops: $14.95
Led Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin IV (33 1/3) ImageLed Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin IV (33 1/ 3)
by Erik Davis
Continuum; Published: 2005-02-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.50
Price in other shops: $14.95
David Bowie's Low (33 1/3) ImageDavid Bowie's Low (33 1/ 3)
by Hugo Wilcken
Continuum; Published: 2005-08-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.97
Price in other shops: $14.95
Brian Eno's Another Green World (33 1/3 series) ImageBrian Eno's Another Green World (33 1/ 3 series)
by Geeta Dayal
Continuum Pub Group; Published: 2009-10-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.91
Price in other shops: $10.95
The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main St. (33 1/3) ImageThe Rolling Stones' Exile on Main St. (33 1/ 3)
by Bill Janovitz
Continuum; Published: 2005-02-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.94
Price in other shops: $14.95
Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited (33 1/3) ImageBob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited (33 1/ 3)
by Mark Polizzotti
Continuum; Published: 2006-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.94
Price in other shops: $14.95
Television's Marquee Moon (33 1/3) ImageTelevision's Marquee Moon (33 1/ 3)
by Bryan Waterman
Continuum; Published: 2011-06-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.61
Price in other shops: $12.95
Health and Personal Care | Beauty | Digital Cameras and Photo | Kitchen and Housewares | Tools and Hardware
Copyright © 2003-2007 bookhills.com
Google
 
Web bookhills.com
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories