fw iliga ?dl Visiting writer bings love and soul Alan Williamson, author of "Love and the Soul," reads from his poetry at 4 p.m. today at the Rackham Amphitheatre. It's part of the University Visiting Writers' Series and it's free. Call 764-6296 for more information. Tuesday April 2,1996 London's liter By Dean Bakopoulos Daily Arts Editor The British press had a field day when Martin Amis, one ofthe best novelists working today, published "The Information"last year. Nevermindthe factthatthe novel is a hilarious and provocative look at the literary world and the writing mind; the Brits in press row were concerned with Amis' personal and professional life. Last spring, as "The Information" was being heralded one of the best books of the year by The New York Times Book Review, the British press went into a frenzy over Amis' marital split, his new girlfriend, his new agent -who secured an $800,000 advance for the book - and the infamous falling-out he had with former best friend and fellow writer Julian Barnes. Amis, London's literary MARTIN AMP bad boy, became the talk, and target, of London literary circles. Where: Rackham, 4t But with all the hubbub and Amphitheatre. allyhooing dying down, more When: Tonight. 7:30 ttention is being focused on the Admission is free. novel itself, just released in pa- perback by Vintage last week. So Amis now finds himself in the middle of a US book tour, including tonight's 7:30 stop at Rackham. "The Information" is, as is now expected from Amis, a dark and hilarious tale of two writers at opposite ends of the literary spectrum, Richard Tull and Gwyn Barry. Tull reviews books fora living, his own work so lofty and obscure that no one can get through ten pages of one of his many aborted novels. Barry is a sort of a Robert *mes Waller, a New Age hooey peddler, who is wick- edly successful and also wickedly bad. Tull, 40-years- old and hitting the midlife crisis stage, vows to get even with his ex-best friend. It's a biting tale of literary envy and grotesque characters.who evoke a strange mix of sympathy and laughter. As Amis said in a telephone Disaster' *nUakes for wild ide ary badboyc interview last week, "One reader says his heart lifts a little each time he reads a phrase like 'Richard Tull was having a terrible time'." And Tull hasmany "terrible times," indeed. Amis said people often wonder how he can be imaginative enough to create a character like Tull, a failed and bitter writer, while his own writing career has been incredibly suc- cessful. "Failure is, funny enough, much more rich and complex a subject than success," Amis said "I think we all live in our failures rather than our successes," he continued. "When you're dealing with novelists, they naturally have infinitely big egos, so in some sense they're always disappointed." In Richard Tull, Amis creates the prototype of a bitter and seething writer. But Amis said that, although Tull is an extreme caricature, he believes all h floor writers are naturally envious of their peers, especialy the succesful p.m ones. "It's part of the job descrip- tion that you have sort of this ego- tistical turbulence. But it's usu- ally under control, though it does need to be there. I think it's part of literary ambition." "I think it's a duality, though. Formost ofyour waking day you are a reasonably modest citizen who wishes your writer friends well. But just for an hour or so before you go to bed, you do sort of seethe and boil." Still, it's doubtful that Amis has any personal need for seething and boiling. His literary success has been great, and he stands near the pinnacle of British and American novelists. Literary heavyweight Saul Bellow went so far as to hail Amis as the successor to Flaubert and Joyce. Amis laughs at that comment, saying he doesn't think Bellow was "at his most cautious" when he made the statement. Thatpraise, while flattering, Amis said, "tends to embarass you. But since you have 70 people telling omes to town you you're shit as well, it tends to balance out." His father was Kingsley Amis, a very successful literary novelist. Amis says his father definitely helped shape his life. "My father suffered every day when he was writing, just going into his study was a tremendous ordeal for him. But suffering and anxiety, that's part of what you put into it. You have to look at that as fuel, and not as some sort of wasted feeling." Amis admits that for him, writing is not such an ordeal. But he says, partly because of the chaos in his personal life at the time, "The Information" took him five long years to complete. He doesn't use a com- puter either, he notes, and that allows for the impor- tant "tweaking and reshaping" of revision. "It's sort ofa longish book," Amis said. "I felt like shit for the last three months I was working on it. You feel like you're wading through shit, and then it suddenly lifts." Amis said it's this last part of the writing process that gives him energy to finish the work at hand. Amis recalls writing his first novel, which he did not attempt to begin until he graduated from college. "I had a lot ofenergy built up from working very hard in my last year at university, and that sort of carried over. I wrote quite a lot of it while I was doing a day job. I worked on the novel secretly at work, and then in the evenings and sometimes on mornings and weekends." To young writers, Amis advises that same persistence. "You just have to keep at it until you get to the end. You can't be overcome by doubts." But no matter what career level they are at, Amis says it's clear that all writers, like Richard Tull, have a desire to be at the top of their profession. "I don't believe a writer who says they're happy to be among the second division, or even among the third. To be among the best, you have to think you are the best." With "The Information" Martin Amis has secured a niche there, among the best. British author Martin Amis will be speaking at Rackham Amphitheatre tonight. Talented cast lifts 'Guys and Dolis' By Christopher Corbett Daily Arts Writer When "Flirting with Disaster" be- gins, we hear Ben Stiller's contempla- 've voice and see his straight face, as he onders what his biological parents (he's adopted) might be like. We go along with him, hoping the film will take us for a ride. When a decrepit old woman smashes a window on aparked car with a sledge- hammer two seconds later, we realize we won't be traveling first class; "Flirt- ing" takes us for a trip the way a roller coaster would. His wife Nancy (Patricia "I'm-so- cute-you-can-just-squeeze-me" Arquette) shows us that just about any- thing can happen on this ride. She pleases him after he fetches their new- born son. He - holding the crying child in his arms precariously - can't stop her. He says, "He's looking right down!" but she continues in what may be a first in the history of sex scenes in film. Stiller, as Mel, a kind of shoulder- harness that we hang onto in "Flirting," Womes across as the only sane person. Director David 0. Russell ("Spank- "i'll show you mine, If you show me yours." we know there's more on his mind than the population of Pittsburgh. Thanks to Russell's smooth, seam- less transitions, we can't put our finger on exactly where or when Mel's quest goes bananas. The ride becomes breezy, like getting into the car and just going; REVIEW ing the Monkey") proves a maestro at building momen- tum with each scene. A psycholo- gist, Tina, helps Mel track down his par- ents, in order to ob- erve and film the reunion for her re- Flirting with Disaster Directed by David O. Russell; with Ben Stiller and Patricia Arquette one ridiculous mo- ment blends into another, slightly more ridiculous moment. A computer screw-up leads them to the wrong mother. Mel and his entourage must head south, and as soon as they get to their motel room, we hear a cuckoo color), we know we've arrived at the screaming point. His parents don't live in a crack house; they live in an acid house. As soon as Mel's long-lost mother opens the door and greets the group - the inside of the home throb- bing a deep, groovy red behind her - we think, "Yesss!" So Mel winds up opening the door of his room; he sees Nancy's bisexual childhood friend sticking his tongue into her armpit as they sit on her bed with her shouting, "You deserve it!"- he says he'll never be able to get the image out of his head for the rest of his life. Whoa ... fuh-reaky! But the hyper-ridiculous climax is only revving up; Lily Tomlin and Alan Alda, as Mel's parents, lead the charge and make us laugh the hardest. Sure, "Flirting," after zooming with the speed of hostages, arrests, truck- plowings, humpty-dancin' freaks, at- tempted car-jackings, definitions of fratterism, Indian wrestling and "bitch boys," doesn't refine any of its charac- ters. The film, like a roller coaster ride, ends up right where it started. But, damn, what a ride. By Karen Sommer Daily Arts Writer When a bunch of gangsters and a handful of chorus girls meet, you might expect a Scorsese shoot-'em-up, show- 'em-down flick about the glamour of the mob. In MUSKET's production of "Guys and Dolls" this weekend, there was glamour, but it had little to do with the Mafia. The story of two gangsters and the women they love had no guns, only insinuations of sex, and not a drop of blood. How, then, did it hold my interest? Talent. As if Damon Runyon's stories and Frank Loesser's lyrics and music weren't spectacular enough, director T. Adam Hess assembled this skillful cast from just about every school/college in the University. While luck was a lady on Friday night,bringing in a full house, luck had nothingto do with MUSKET's fabulous production. While at times Andy Sievers, who played Sky Masterson, looked like he had borrowed someone else's body for the night, he made up for it with his Marlon Brando-esqueperformance. His crooner's voice was perfect when he lost himself dreaming about the woman he'd spend the rest of his life with in "I'll Know" and then again in "I've Never Been in Love Before." Watching Sky fall in love with self- righteous Sarah Brown (played by Allison Lane) was not as painful as I once remembered it. As a matterof fact, it was fun. Sievers pushed Lane's but- tons with grace and Lane responded with the perfect amount of frustration. The two had chemistry every time they shared the stage, especially when they sang. Sarah Brown's soulful moment during "If I Were A Bell" took on a double-entendre as Lane's beautiful voice rang throughout the theater. Then there was couple No. 2. Randy Kurstin's perfect New York accent and even more perfect timing made the lov- able "no-goodnick" Nathan Detroit shine. Rather than play Detroit as a cartoon character, Kurstin played him three-dimensionally, evoking the audience's empathy, as three-fourths comedian, one-fourth dramatist. With Margaret Chmiel as Kurstin's leading lady, Miss Adelaide, it's a won- der he wasn't upstaged. Chmiel was a show stopper. This singer displayed her incredible range and versatility in "Adelaide's Lament," belting out the close of the ballad. Like Detroit, the audience could have looked at Adelaide's silliness and laughed; in- stead they applauded. REVIEW Guys and Dolls Power Center March 29, 1996 Like any good basketball team, a musical's bench needs depth as well. When your supporting roles perform as well as your stars, you have a hit. Throughout the show I found myself looking for Nicely Nicely Johnson, played by Tad Emptage, to come back on stage. From the opening of the show until "Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat," Emptage synthesized his acting with singing to produce a phenomenal gangsta from New Yawk. While not every ensemble member's barrel turns and leaps were engaging,, both Jim Daly and Mary Archbold (Benny Southstreet and Big Julie) ex- ecuted the "Crap Shooter's Dance,"- impressively choreographed by Emma Cotter, with style and a level of talent found in professional theaters. Also, Daly gave the audience a treat with a hint of his Amazin' Blue background during the melodic a cappella ending of "The Oldest Established." Unfortunately, I wasn't sure if the Hot Box dancers were less than star quality because Adelaide's nightclub was a dump, or because the choreogra- phy and timing were off. Their smiles were huge, though, and it took a certain level of professionalism to go along with costume designer Lisa Renee Jordan's low-necked, high-cut leotards in "Take Back Your Mink." With every accent accentuated and every song sung sublimely, MUSKET's performance of "Guys and Dolls" was a pleasure to watch. The cast definitely rocked the proverbial boat this weekend at the Power Center. Yet they shouldn't "sit down." Stand up and take a bow. concerts and other fine arts events for the Daily Arts section? If so, just call Ted at 763-0379. .'. Do you want to write previews and reviews of search. But when she, Mel, Nancy and the child all arrive at what they believe is his mother's home, Tina finds that her camera is dirty; she puts the camera in front of her crotch and says, "Use my skirt. I don't care about it - it's old." We love seeing Stiller trying to handle the situation. We laugh because, de- pite the stone-solid look on his face, At Showcase clock chiming away. All the mounting craziness sets us up. We get hints that the film will go hog-wild at some point, and we anticipate the locomotive-like charge. When Russell gives us the shot of an Addams Family house (each window radiates with a different psychedelic = -----, WelIcomp to Dental Career Day 8:30 - 9:15 9:15 - 9:30 9:30 - 10:30 THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY SATURDAY, April 6, 1996 Registration - Refreshments in Kellogg Auditorium OPENING SESSION - Kellogg Auditorium Dr. Jed J. 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