Monday, July 29, 2019

Shine On


Some books beg to be read. The Sun Is Also A Star is one of those books. My intent for this week was to focus on The Steel Wheels. With their new album Over The Trees dropping a couple of weeks ago and my trek to Kansas City to see them at Knuckleheads, my post was in the bag. However, at the same time I was digesting their new music, I also happened to be reading The Sun Is Also A Star.

Calling to me from my bookcase with its’ bright colors and purple-edged pages, Nicola Yoon’s The Sun Is Also A Star begs to be judged by its’ cover. Tricky business indeed, isn’t there a popular idiom based around the opposite of that notion? The book’s jacket design is great, can its’ content live up to that? I breathed a sigh of relief after the first couple of passages because it became immediately clear: this is the kind of book I love to read. And, believe it or not, my love for it has very little to do with the story itself – which is wonderful – but the writing style, the narrative structure and the characters pull you in and refuse to let you go.

The Sun Is Also A Star takes place over the course of one day in present day New York City. Natasha and Daniel meet cute. But Natasha is not a believer in love, fate and definitely not the meet cute. Can aspiring poet Daniel convince Natasha to throw off the bowlines? He only has one day to do it. Natasha and her family face deportation that very evening. That is all I will say here. To reveal more would be to rob you of the pure enjoyment of taking in the story as it unfolds. 

Strunk & White’s Elements of Style informs my writing and my reading. Their sixth principle, omit needless words, in particular. Yoon is a disciple, perhaps unwittingly, of Strunk & White. Yoon’s writing is precise. Her sentence structure is exquisite. Every word has a purpose and, therefore, every sentence develops and enhances the characters and the story. Yoon can accomplish in a few sentences what other authors need a paragraph to do. One of the expositional chapters ends with this passage, “Later this afternoon my life will hop on a train headed for Doctor Daniel Jae ho Bae station, but until then the day is mine. I’m going to do whatever the world tells me to. I’m going to act like I’m in a goddamn Bob Dylan song and blow in the direction of the wind. I’m going to pretend my future’s wide open, and that anything can happen.” That passage illustrates the essence of Daniel. We will get to know him even better throughout the rest of the book but those few sentences perfectly describe Daniel’s recognition of the outside forces attempting to restrain his natural romanticism.

Along with the strength of her composition Yoon shows skill with a very interesting and effective narrative structure. The book primarily alternates between Natasha and Daniel’s perspectives. We learn about them through their reaction and adaptation to the world around them. But sprinkled amongst Natasha and Daniel’s narratives are third person narratives focusing on a variety of subjects: the security guard and the USCIS, Natasha’s father, eyes and fate to name a few. In hands less adept than Yoon’s, these shifting perspectives could become jarring, chopping the book up and endangering the flow. That does not happen here. No matter the narrative perspective, each chapter completely belongs. Natasha and Daniel’s narratives remain separate until the conclusion of the story when Yoon brings them together in a shared narrative. You will have to find out on your own the reason for their coming together.

The Sun Is Also A Star features a cast of fantastic characters. At the heart of the book’s universe are Natasha and Daniel, who are different and yet similar at the same time. Both are wise beyond their years, but not in a cloying, overly precocious, 'mini-adult' way. Life, fate and chance forced them to grow up quickly. Your heart breaks for them and moments of childhood missed. On the surface, I share little in common with Natasha and Daniel (age, race, socio-economic status, geography) but Yoon fleshes out both characters simply as members of the human race, navigating the difficulties inherent in that membership in the best way they can, and they are utterly relatable because of it. I see elements of myself in both of them. 

So, intentions be damned. I sensed almost immediately that The Sun Is Also A Star needed to be shared. That said, please do not take this as permission to skip Over The Trees, it’s a fantastic album from a group that continues to grow while remaining true to their roots. While Natasha’s playlist may veer towards rock, there is no reason your soundtrack to The Sun Is Also A Star can’t be Blue Ridge Mountain folk.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Lyle Lovett and His Large Band, Definitively In Charge


Attending a Lyle Lovett and His Large Band concert is akin to living out the cliché "variety is the spice of life." Before the concert at Hoyt Sherman Place last week, my exposure to Lyle Lovett’s music was limited to “If I Had a Boat,” which I discovered through the gone-too-soon series Parenthood. For me, the variety was entirely unexpected: a country hoedown, a smoky jazz club, a Texas church service. Luckily, I was ready for anything and everything. And everything is exactly what I got.

The variety in Lovett’s music mirrors his varied career. Active in the music industry since the 1980’s, first as a songwriter then performing both solo and with the band, Lovett also dabbles in acting. I remember his brief marriage to Julia Roberts in the 90’s since, as a ten year-old Iowan, I always had my finger on the pulse of Hollywood. 

The concert kicked off with a rousing number from the band and then Lovett hit the stage and dove into "Pants is Overrated." I instantly agreed with the notion of the song in the most literal sense. Why wear pants when you could just leave those bottoms off? That was it for me. I was sold. The rollicking continued with "San Antonio Girl," the lyrics of which paint a picture of new love, a young man head over heels. "San Antonio Girl" is a prime example of one of Lovett’s greatest strengths: telling stories through song. Each song a novella, each verse a chapter.   

While I was right at home during the hoedown, I was a bit more leery to take a side trip to the jazz club. Riffs abound and all the members of the band get a chance to shine. There is no denying their musicianship, so while jazz is not my genre of choice I cannot help but appreciate the talent. Longtime Lovett performer Francine Reed can scat with the best of them. 

Lovett continued the set with what I now know to be his biggest hits, “If I Had a Boat” among them. I love the lyric at the end of the song, ‘kiss my ass I bought a boat/I’m going out to sea.’ What a great illustration of growing up and finding your place. “Here I Am,” “North Dakota” and his cover of “I’ll Fly Away” were also highlights. The rambling “Here I Am” is an interesting deconstruction of song, breaking the music with spoken word, and with a comedic lilt at that.

Eventually, the evening morphed into a life affirming church service. The hauntingly beautiful “Ain’t No More Cane” closed out the evening, the harmonies filling the hall and our souls. Of course, the audience would not let that be the end and Lovett and the band complied by coming back out for “Church.” 

Lovett’s stage presence is authentic. His rambling seems to acknowledge that he knows he must address the audience but that, in reality, he would be more comfortable simply performing. The audience on this evening – possibly typical for a Lovett and Large Band show – was much different than I anticipated. Hollering at Lovett on the stage, constantly leaving  - either to get more booze or, more likely given their age, to go to the bathroom. Not ideal, I favor an attentive audience who is there for the music rather than the chance to drink (or pee) somewhere other than their own home. 

Audience behavior aside, I am now a Lovett devotee. It's true that I am a sucker for a live concert experience, but they aren't all good. Not all concerts convince you to listen to the music after the show, go on a YouTube spiral, talk to others about the show, imploring them to listen to your favorites so you can talk about them together. Lyle Lovett and His Large Band sold me in the first two songs.