I'm actually in the process of reading this book. Very very poor writing with no real purpose besides to boost Saunder's ego. He seems to be trying to educate people a bit about the early days of house in Chicago, but ends up talking about himself while merely mentioning people like Farley as asides.
I wasn't expecting much. I'd read about how bad the book is, but even my lowest expecations weren't low enough. Reading this book you just have to sit back and wade through pages of bullshit before finding the few interesting facts. And when you find those, you have to question the authority. I don't trust him. -----Original Message----- From: xx xx [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, February 25, 2000 8:22 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: (313) house music/jesse saunders' "book" (long) I read this book at the second level, means like a joke... something comic. Just IMHO he did in a marketting way.... as a cry : " Do not forget me...I'm still here....I'm the one, I'm the first". Later >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Andrew Duke) >Reply-To: Andrew Duke Cognition/In The Mix <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >CC: 313 <[email protected]> >Subject: Re: (313) house music/jesse saunders' "book" (long) >Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 21:37:41 -0400 > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > anyone read jesse saunders book about house music? > > > > p > > > > > > ***yep. > > > but unlike the book (Techno Rebels) written by our talented > >resident 313 book-writer >(and a damn fine one at that), dan sicko, >saunders' book (House Music: The *"Real"* >Story; my ""s added :)) has a *few* (sarcasm >in effect here) problems: >a) it's extremely biased (his thesis is that >*he* was the first person to release a house >record and that's about his only point >thrust-wise in writing the book) >b) he's a horrible writer, and i'm not exaggerating; >at times the writing is quite painful. it would >be much more readable if an editor had gone >over it first, but looks like that didn't happen >c) it's not really "book"-y in feel ie he's just >running with the "i'm the first person to ever >release a house record!!!" theme and it's like >a short story that has been s t r e t c h e d >out just for the sake of saying it is a *book* >(hope this makes sense); it's about 150 pages >of big type and can be read in about an hour, >to be honest; in short, it might >have made a good magazine article series, >but it ain't enough to make a book. the biggest >beef that those in the house community have >had with it is that the last half of the book is simply quotes from >others about house music; he used these quotes >without proper authorization (imagine if someone >on the 313 list was collating our posts and used >em to write the last half of his/her book; well, >that's sorta what jesse did with the last half >of his book, 'cept he was grabbing his quotes >from Streetsound's Global House list and >the House 2000 list and those posting (thank >goodness he didn't grab a quote from me from >those lists) never intended their posts to be >reprinted verbatim in a book, especially without >permission) >I'm not saying avoid the book, or, if you have >access *don't* read it, it's just that if you give >a book written by a top writer like dan sicko >a 9 or 10 out of 10, saunders' book would have >to get like a 2 or 3 out of 10. comparing a proper >book like sicko's (i know you didn't ask for a comparison, >but it had to be done) and a "book" like jesse's >is like comparing quality detroit techno with >that friggin' "blue" song i was ranting about a few >weeks back! sicko's book is a *real* book in >that research was done, there's footnotes, an index, >appendices, etc, ie some serious time and effort >went into it and the results show this; saunders' >tome looks and reads as if it was put together >literally over a long weekend; i don't mean to dis jesse saunders, >he was an important contributor back in the day, >but i can't really recommend his book (and i got >a "promo" copy of it, so it's not like i'm a bitter >book buyer about the situation; i actually got the >promo copy with intentions of interviewing him >about the book, but after reading the book, didn't >think the interview would be justified; with sicko, >however, the second i started reading Techno Rebels, >i knew i wanted to try to do my best to spread the >word about the book sicko wrote; thus i *did* >interview him for the show, wrote a review of the >book, etc whereas i felt calling further attention >to the saunders' book would be a big dis-service >to a whole bunch of people). enough ranting :) >hope this helps. >when can we have more microworld music, philip ?!? >thanks. andrew duke :) np joy division--closer lp >-- >Cognition/Andrew Duke's In The Mix >mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >http://techno.ca/cognition >1096 Queen St #123 Halifax NS Canada B3H 2R9 > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
