Christopher Silas Neal This week in The New York Times Book Review, Robert Christgau reviews Pete Townshend's memoir “Who I Am.†Mr. Christgau says the driving force behind the Who is particularly qualified to write about a life in music because his “I.Q. has always seemed a thing apart†among rock stars and “he always had a special affinity for the written word.†But the final product disappointed Mr. Christgau, who writes:
With over 500 pages of text subdivided (by my hand count) into something over 380 sections that seldom exceed two or three pages, the book hops along indefatigably, gathering explanatory mojo only by accrual, even as to his Who bandmates and his long-suffering wife, Karen. There are so many studios! So many yachts! So many enticing beauties! He loves every one of them! But why, exactly? Even when we glimpse the answer, we forget it 20 pages later.
On this week's podcast, Mr. Christgau talks about Mr. Townshend's book and the Who; Amanda Foreman discusses J. K. Rowling's novel “The Casual Vacancyâ€; and Gregory Cowles has best-seller news. Sam Tanenhaus is the host.
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