ARTS
keaders find 'Lost Legend
> be eloquent, heartbreakii

Monday, August 13, 2001- The Michigan Daily - 11

sa Rajit
Arts Editor
eiving glowing reviews every-
-from the New York Times to the
Washington Post,
and a "best book
Ste of the year" nod
from the L.A.
The Lost Times, "The Lost
sgends of Legends of New
tw Jersey Jersey" by Emer-
son College pro-
Harcourt fessor Fredrick
Grade: A- Reiken proves
itself worthy of
such praise.
A highly read-
able tale of love
and family dys-
function in
igsteen-crazed suburban New

Jersey, circa 1979, the plot of "Leg-
ends" develops effortlessly. Narrated
by teen hockey ace Anthony Rubin,
the story of his father's affair with his
best friend's mother is told with wry
humor, gut-wrenching flashbacks and
standard teen-aged attitude.
The book opens with Anthony's
mother, having just found evidence of
her husband's affair, throwing rocks at
Claudia Berkowitz's house. Inside are
Anthony, age 13, and his best friend
Jay Berkowitz, hanging out in the
basement ... plus Jay's mother and
Anthony's father upstairs in the bed-
room.
A painful divorce ensues, not to
mention the crumbling of Anthony
and Jay's friendship. Left to pick up
the pieces of this emotional rubble,
Anthony finds solace in a likely place:
His ill-reputed next-door neighbor

'adioheads show
arvives bad venue

emy Peters
Writer
posing fans (who have most likely
d three or four years to see them)l
g walks, huge throngs of people1
umid, 90 degree-weather, Radio-
recent tour in support of their
ng release Amnesiac could havef
d like punishment to their young,
techno-savv yt
crowd. c
It is easy to seel
the following that
iohead pushed the band's1
ssom Music recent releases,F
Center, Ohio Kid A and Anne-t
August 8,2001 siac, to Nos. 1
and 2 respectively
their first week
out. The evidence
lies in sold-out
venues such as
the Blossom
Music Center,
seating nearly
O people. Due to traffic problems
people, including this reviewer,
ed the first two acts.
te Oxford lads managed to do a
recent job of roping in the large
growing larger as people man-
to get through the traffic mess.
ohead played a 23-song set, lasting
y two hours, comprised of selec-
from the hand's last three albums,
g Pablo Honey fans disappointed.
e wishing to hear a new cut or two
the band were also let down.
e largest problem the band faced
at attendeeswere upset by the
nature of the concert and the
of intimacy that comes with play-
such large audiences.
e band did a superb job of what
were paid to do: Play their songs.
person in the band put their heart
soul into each song, from Thom

Yorke's frantic stage presence, to every
other member's wild playing.
Radiohead played themselves to the
point of exhaustion, evident in the
brooding, dying feeling of their final
offering, "Exit Music (Fade Out)." Fans
didn't realize how much the group
exerted themselves; not because Radio-
head did a poor job of communicating
musically, but because they were hin-
dered by the nature of playing to such a
large crowd - the festival syndrome.
Aside from the random variables of
parking and venue, the concert was a
great show from the group. It is too bad
that these factors ruined the enjoyment
of what was a truly great experience for

Juliette DeMiglio, daughter of a sus-
pected gangster.
Reiken, using a solid foundation of
eloquent prose, bejievable characters
and events that anyone over age 17
can relate to, tells an alternately
heartwarming and heartbreaking
story of how Anthony resurrects his
life. The reader is made to feel as
betrayed and confused as the charac-
ters themselves, and yearns for more
the entire time.
"Legends," Reiken's sophomore
effort, deftly illuminates his talent as
a storyteller. At 336 pages, the book
can be read in a single sitting; this is
convenient, as you will probably want
to.
Crenshaw
By Nicholas Harp
Daily Arts Writer
When journalists write about
Detroit-raised guitar-rocker Marshall
Crenshaw, they like to roll out the
retro analogies. "An Everly brother
for the 1980s," one reviewer wrote
upon the release of his 1982 debut
album. Buddy Holly's Back From the
Dead, another vintage headline quips.
While it's true that Crenshaw's
music often pays
homage to the
s , backbeat-thump-
ing, dis rmingly
Marshall catchy modes of
Crenshaw 1960's pop, these
The Ark comparisons feel
Wednesday at 8 p.m. less like useful
insight than some
critical ambiva-
lence about
where the heck
Crenshaw fits in
the protean, cor-
porate world of
mainstream rock.
But it's exactly his refusal to con-
cern himself with trendy, of-the-
moment classifications that makes
Crenshaw's new album, wryly titled
I've Suffered For My Art ... It's Your
Turn such*invigorating, welcome
material. Playing a live set of both
signature and new songs in New Jer-
sey's venerable Stone Pony nightclub,
Crenshaw is in terrific form on this
disc - stripped down to one acoustic
guitar, a microphone and skillfully
restrained backing by New York ses-
sion mavens Greg Cohen (bass) and

unplugs, pleases fans
-Charlie Giordano (accordion).
Crenshaw's agile hooks and
thoughtful songwriting, by turns foot-
loose and melancholic, are generously
on display here, and there's something
about the trimmed-down, unplugged
production that makes his work even s
more vital and persuasive. Crenshaw
sounds so good in this spare ambience
that you have to wonder if the some-
times slick-sounding, production
heavy vibe of his catalog may
ultimately have hindered his appeal
over the years as much as helped it.
Here, "Cynical Girl," a facetious,
early love song, is re-imagined as a
kind of campfire classic - complete
with infectious "la la's" and "woo
woo's." set list includes a cover or two and so,
"Better Back Off," which made sure enough, here are marvelous
welcome rounds on alternative radio retellings of Jody Reynolds's "Endless
in 1991 is, well, back, this time Sleep" and The Left Banke's 1966
sounding more honky-tonk and blue- top-five hit "Walk Away Renee" -
grass; we wouldn't be surprised to with Crenshaw's voice straining like a
hear Del McCoury and his boys join hymn back to the days of jukeboxes
in on the second verse. Only "Some- and good old monophonic AM radio.
day, Someway," Crenshaw's inaugural Marshall Crenshaw's current tour
hit, seems to lose something in its brings him back home to Ann Arbor's
acoustic translation. Originally a fun, Ark Wednesday, August 15, and if
bopping number, the track seems a bit this latest live record is any indica-
leaden and lonely without the singer's tion, the show ought to be a splendid
jangly Stratocaster and a real, live time with - and here's the obligatory
rhythm section behind it. retro analogy - a good beat you can
Crenshaw knows that every good dance to.
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