Is 0 Despite 'Prozac,' Elizabeth Wurtzel still struggles with By KIRK MILLER Even a best-seller chronicling her rampant depression, drug use, and failed suicide attempts hasn't stopped author Elizabeth Wurtzel from appre- ciating the finer parts of life. "You know what you want to do?" she smiled as I entered her hotel room on Tuesday afternoon, about four hours before her two book readings in town. "You really want to watch the opening statements of the O.J. trial with me." So for forty-five minutes and in- termittently after that we sat as she critiqued the prosecutor ("He's not smooth."), his hairstyle ("I hate bald men") and leaked some fascinating inside details about the trial. "I was in Los Angeles a few weeks ago at a dinner party," she explained, lying exhausted on the couch for the entire interview. "I met Alan Dershowitz's son ... he visited OJ.... who has snapped. He could pass a lie detector test at this point. He really has convinced himself he didn't do it." Wurtzel reached this hobnobbing with the semi-famous only in the last year, having a surprising best-seller with her tell-all autobiography "Prozac Nation." Her book is filled with more outrageous acts of depres- sion and bizarre situations than any unauthorized biographer could ever have imagined, even more shocking when considering that she is only in her mid-twenties and is quite charm- ing in person. Her candidness is what makes her so appealing in person and in the book, but not in a cheap, exploitive kind of way. But her surprise success and outgoing nature has yielded mixed results; besides coping with her on- going depression, there have been many unfavorable reviews of her book (including from myself). "It's been really weird," she ad- mitted. "There are people who really hate it, then there are people who wildly love it. It's really disconcert- ing ... I think people in this age group resent it sometimes." Most of "Prozac Nation" is har- rowing, occasionally ironic but usu- ally deadly serious with mind-numb- ing details of Wurtzel's depression and her inability to cope with it. Part of the criticism comes from her ef- forts to identify it as a generational problem and some of it might be di- rected at her comparisons to the last bestselling depressive, Sylvia Plath. But Wurtzel defended the work from being a twentysomething version of "The Bell Jar." "I was more interested in her (Plath's) personal life," she argued. "Peoplejust thought I was comparing my writing to hers. We're both kind of Jewish women raised by single mothers who went to private north- eastern colleges and wrote. It's not a bad parallel." She also pointed out that Plath's neurotic classic was widely panned when it was released. As her second book tour winds down and she prepares to go to Eu- rope for the next leg, she hasn't been in a great mood. Admitting she was tired, she also pointed out that there hasn't been a happy ending. "In terms of my emotional state it's been a bad several months," she admitted. "The Prozac seems to have stopped working. Ijust got depressed in a way that I haven't in a long time. It's just a general sense of not being interested in life." Lifelong depression or not, Wurtzel has been anointed a genera- tional bearer in the same way that Jay McInnery and Bret Easton Ellis came to represent growing up in the '80s. She's been the focus of magazine features and recently appeared sev- eral times on Comedy Central's "Po- litically Incorrect," showing off a wit and candor in person that was lacking in her book. "I can't believe this is Eastern time,", she sighed during one of her many sudden conversational turning points. "I had a boyfriend who went here, and I always thought he was one hour behind. My entire relationship I had with this man was a fraud." Wurtzel spent most of her life with her mom on the East Coast, dealing with a father who abandoned the fam- ily when she was young and an unex- plained depression that overtook her when she was 11. In the book's best sequences she dutifully described the millions ofdifferent approaches thera- pists and doctors took, all of them depression contradictory and none of them ahelp. Part of the problem extended from what her doctors and mother consid- ered a "normal" life. "Depression is a protest against the game," she said. "The American dream, the values you don't fit into. And some people do fit into them. A lot of people at readings say 'You have this, you have that, you went to Harvard, how can you be unhappy?' I think depression is a personal revolt. It's sort of saying all the things in the world don't add up to the essential thing, the ability to relate to people." Although her depression was abated somewhat by Prozac seven years ago, she admitted it's stopped working and she is trying something new. In the meantime she hopes to write another book and a few maga- zine articles when she gets home, and also has taken an interest in a possible movie based on her book. A recent unconfirmed casting choice of Drew Barrymore made her laugh. "She's just too stupid," she ex- plained. "I used to like her, she was really amusing. But she posed in Play- boy last month, and she looked terrible. Her tits are really ugly ... it's really distressing to see how bad she looked." Wurtzel is still not happy, although she said she does appreciate the warm reaction from readers and people she's met. In the end, she doesn't think her life will be about her success, but how she really feels. "It's funny how much I still wish I was someone else," she admitted. 0 0 Even busy promo tours, Elizabeth Wurtzel keeps up with the Simpson trial. Rampal remains the master of the flute By EMILY LAMBERT Is there, and has there ever been, anothet flute player quite like Jean- Pierre Rampal? Now in his eighth decade, Rampal has the impressive w Joan-Pierre Rampal Hill Auditorium January 25, 1995 lems that have forced the cancella- tion of several recent engagements. In light of this, Wednesday's event was more than a performance. Rampal's extraordinary presence made the recital a gesture of reas- surance. A succession of pieces by Telemann, Rameau and Bach made the first half of the program decidedly Baroque. Harpsichordist John Steele Ritter and Rampal made an excellent team, especially in J.S. Bach's "So- nata in B Minor." Although their en- ergy level waned in the later move- ments, Rampal and Ritter seemed to exhibit super-sensory communication throughout the Adante's instrumen- tal dialogue. Following the intermission, Rampal performed a piece that he both recorded with the composer and premiered, Poulenc's Sonata for flute and piano. Now a staple work in flute literature, the Sonata exudes sweetness and sensitivity. Rampal was plagued by problems of intona- tion and technique, but he played distinction of having established the flute as a sought-after solo instru- ment, bringing it to its current state of popularity. He won a world of adoring fans in the process, and achieved a nearly immortal status. The devoted audience at his Wednesday night recital in Hill Au- ditorium witnessed an often unseen dimension of this legend. They saw Rampal - who has been an inspira- tion for so many - confronted by challenges, including health prob- with matchless nuances. The most special moments of the evening surfaced in the bold and expressive "Sonata in A Major" by Cesar Franck. The piece's lyrical content highlighted Rampal's in- credible artistry. Rampal played with focus and warmth, and the flute solo in the serene Fantasia move- ment was rich and sonorous. Al- though a hurt knee forced Rampal to sit for most of the concert, the music moved him to his feet on several occasions. When standing, Rampal could let his famous sound soar into the concert hall. Rampal conveyed a remarkable connection with the piece by Franck, and one can find an agreeable parallel between the performer and the com- poser. An innovator in French music, Franck will long be remembered for his ground breaking compositions. In fact, the program's four movement sonata was a break from the tradi- tional form. Rampal, born a century later, will be known for posterity as the flutist who brought his art to a new level. The three crowd-pleasing encores provided more of a glimpse into Rampal's phenomenal gift for music making. He used to his gold flute to capture the natural sound of a Japa- nese melody, and Ritter provided per- fect and appropriate accompaniment on harpsichord. Rampal has recently come under fire from critics who rebuke him for a declining technique. Yet in an age when conservatories continuously graduate flutists whose technical ac- robatics rival those of the best, an artistic performance by a seasoned musician is a welcome treat. 01 U I Catie Curtis had the good sense to realize that the folks in Ann Arbor are suckers for sensitive singer-songwriters. Award-innin Curtis moves al1l audiences By ELLA DE LEON No offense to all the drummers out there, but percussion just wasn't doing it for Catie Curtis. Score one for the strummers; she chose the gui- tar instead. "Well, I started playing (guitar) instead because I needed an instru- ment I could play solo. Once I started writing songs, I stayed with it." So who is this Catie Curtis? Al- though she has recently moved to Ann Arbor, Curtis is originally from Maine, where started performing in high school as a drummer in a band. She grew up listening to Rickie Lee Jones, Bonnie Raitt and James Tay- lor, which explains her switch to the six-string. Curtis attended Brown University, wrote in San Francisco for a year, and released her first tape "Dandelion" independently on her own Mongoose Records in 1989. After relocating to Boston and be- ing employed as a social worker, Curtis began to make herself known by play- ing the coffeehouses and festivals. Her second album, "From Years to Hours," came out in 1991. Rhino Records then included "Minefields," a song from the album, on the compilation "Putumayo Presents: The Best of Folk Music." In 1993, Curtis garnered a Boston Music Award nomination for OutstandingNew Acoustic Act.InJune 1994, Catie added yet another award to her resume: first prize in the Troubadour Contest at the 21st Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festi- val. Not to mention that after signing on Boston'sHearMusic, "Truth from Lies" hit the shelves in September. Utilizing her soft, clear voice with a catch, heartfelt lyrics, and rhythmic guitar playing, it's no wonder Curtis has achieved much. However,filling her cabinet with trophies isn't Curtis' pri- mary goal as a musician. Herobjectives are "to continue to have time to work on writing songs. To work with other mu- sicians," which she did on "Truth from Lies." John Gorka lends vocal support on two tracks, while Patty Larkin plays second guitaron "Cry Fire." Because of that enriching experience, Catie also plans "to have more opportunities to work with talented musicians." In front of an audience, however, Curtis usually takes the stage with only her guitar, no matter what size the crowd. "Ireally enjoy both (large and small audiences). With a large audience, there's this kind of wave- like response that happens slowly throughout:.. whereas when you play in a small coffeehouse, you can see faces, you can see them react immedi- ately, and things happen more quickly. You can have fast-paced banter with a small audience, and Ienjoy that. But then it's fun to feel like you're a part of this big, huge moving energy in a large audience." Besides, as Curtis confided, "I just try to entertain ... and if I'm doing my job, I hope I'm moving (the audience) or making them laugh. I don't expect anything." Curtis takes this laid-back ap- proach in finding inspiration for her songs as well. While she gets her ideas "from talking to people," Curtis can't really describe how songs make their way into her head. "I don't know exactly where the idea comes from. I 0 University of Michigan School of Music Tuesday, January 31 Piano Forum Professor emeritus Benning Dexter: "The Late Works of Brahms" Recital Hall, School of Music, 11:30 a.m. free Brass Master Class: Roger Bobo Recital Hall, 4:30-6:30 p.m., free Wednesday, February 1 Choral Festival University Choir, University Chamber Choir, Men's Glee Club, Women's Glee Club, Arts Chorale Jerry Blackstone, Theodore Morrison, Jonathan Hirsh, conductors Dona nobis pacem from Bach's B Minor Mass, and much more Hill Auditorium, 8 p.m., free Guest Recital: Roger Bobo, tuba Former tubist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Solo recital with electronic accompaniment Recital Hall. School of Music, 8 p.m., free Ii R . _!!! _ ..................................... ..._ ............ ,. 1.a........ U..