Madonna – The First Album

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

This is the first in an ongoing series where I will be reviewing all of Madonna’s studio albums, in order of release. You can read my previous post on her latest, Hard Candy, here

In 1982, an unknown singer named Madonna Ciccone was signed to Sire Records, a New York-based subsidiary of Warner Brothers that was home to new-wave heroes, Talking Heads. Madonna was 24, a former dance student from Michigan who had touted her demo tape around underground clubs such as Danceteria and Paradise Garage.
Continue reading

Marilyn, Grushenka And The Brothers Karamazov

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Photo by Milton Greene

Photo by Milton Greene

The Brothers Karamazov, the last novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky, was published in 1880. It is a story of three brothers who become implicated in the murder of their corrupt father, also named Fyodor. Dmitri, his eldest son, is a soldier, mired in a life of debauched excess. Ivan is a student, much disturbed by the irrationality of the world, while Alexei, the youngest of the brothers, is an idealistic novice monk. Both Dmitri and his father, Fyodor, fight for the affections of Grushenka, a peasant girl who has risen to the dubious status of courtesan. And in a further twist, Ivan falls for Dmitri’s erstwhile fiancée, the proud and haughty Katerina. Continue reading

Being Rita Hayworth

Tags

, , , ,

Being Rita Hayworth: Labor, Identity And Hollywood Stardom by Adrienne L. McLean is not a typical celebrity biography. Indeed, McLean suggests that our concept of what it was like to ‘be’ Rita Hayworth is a notional one, based on the image Hayworth created for herself, and ever-changing perceptions of what her image means to us. This book is not an attempt to reveal the events of Hayworth’s life or her offscreen personality, though inevitably both will impact on our understanding of her, and her enduring cultural relevance. Continue reading