A review of "The Meaning of Sunglasses: And a Guide to Almost All Things Fashionable" (rated 2 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (shellerina, ballerina) — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:59:56 GMT

The Meaning of Sunglasses: And a Guide to Almost All Things Fashionable

by Hadley Freeman

Hadley Freeman certainly thinks she is amusing. This book is comprised of a number of mini-essays on (almost) all things fashionable, and is sorted alphabetically (A: Accessories, V: Vintage, etc), which can be annoying, i.e. its at least four essays on various types of footwear, and confusing, as it frequently refers to both previous and future entries.
Snarky is one thing. Haughty is something else entirely.
The book is at most, mildly amusing every now and again.
I am happy to hear someone in fashion with an opinion similiar to my own lambaste the masses for their sheep-like approach many women take to Vogue, the so-called bible of fashion, and the blinders they wear preventing the realization that all those articles, tips and suggestions are little more than advertising-driven shout-outs to vendors. It is nice to hear this, especially, from someone in the fashion field.
Reading a first-person narrative of someone clearly amusing herself with overweening wit, though, gets awfully old by letter…B.
I finished it, and agreed with the guist of many entries, but found her self-congratulatory I’m-smarter-than-you style painful to get through.

Wonderful Tonight; so-so in prose (rated 3 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (shellerina, ballerina) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:40:28 GMT

Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me

by Pattie Boyd

I was really hoping for great things from this book. However, Pattie Boyd, former wife of both Beatle George Harrison and guitar god Eric Clapton, inspiration of such songs as “Wonderful Tonight,” “Layla,” “Something,” etc. gives barely a peek behind the curtain of greatness.
Pattie shares much, but holds back so much of what puts you in the moment. The book is a telling of those counterculture years and beyond, in a mostly strictly factual way. There is not much of a depth of emotion.
The famous guitar duel between Clapton and Harrison over Pattie is disappointedly described in a bare paragraph or two.
It would be wholly unfair to expect that because of these two men’s utter musical genius, their muse and wife would able to demonstrate a similar literary genius in order to tell their tales. But still. That’s what I had really wanted.

All Consuming : shellerina, ballerina

A review of "The Meaning of Sunglasses: And a Guide to Almost All Things Fashionable" (rated 2 stars)

Wonderful Tonight; so-so in prose (rated 3 stars)