A Few Words in Defense of Our Country: The Biography of Randy Newman
A toothless hagiography packed with obvious filler, notably extended quotations from song lyrics and panegyrics from admirers ... This book demonstrates little feel for Newman’s music. I wanted it to contain memorable ideas and sentences, but it does not ... A better-reported and more critical biography will probably have to wait until Newman, and others central to his story, are no longer with us.
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Straightforward, helpful in clarifying the intentions underlying Newman’s most challenging songs ... Written with the participation of its subject, who contributes comments with restrained candor and wry, arch wit.
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Immersive and fascinating ... Robert Hilburn seeks to situate Newman in the canon of the rock era; he sometimes struggles to do so, in no small part because Newman’s music has always seemed to eschew rock-and-roll altogether ... At times relies too comfortably on the received wisdom of old-school critics and dedicated fandom.
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