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Reaching Out with No Hands: Reconsidering Yoko Ono
John Lennon once described her as “the world's most famous unknown everybody knows her name, but nobody knows what she does.” Many people are aware of her art, and her music has always split crowds, from her caterwauling earliest work to her later dance numbers, but how many people have looked at Yoko Ono's decades-spanning career and varied work in total and asked the simple question, “Is it any good?”
From her earliest work with the Fluxus group and especially her relationship with John Cage, through her enigmatic pop happenings (where she met John Lennon), her experimental films, cryptic books, conceptual art, and her long recording career that has vacillated between avant-garde noise and proto-new wave, earning the admiration of other artists while generally confusing the public at large who often sees her only in the role of the widow Lennon, Reaching Out with No Hands is the first serious, critical, wide-ranging look at Yoko Ono the artist and musician.
A must-read for art and music fans interested in going beyond the stereotyped observations of Yoko as a Lennon hanger-on or inconsequential avant noisemaker.
From her earliest work with the Fluxus group and especially her relationship with John Cage, through her enigmatic pop happenings (where she met John Lennon), her experimental films, cryptic books, conceptual art, and her long recording career that has vacillated between avant-garde noise and proto-new wave, earning the admiration of other artists while generally confusing the public at large who often sees her only in the role of the widow Lennon, Reaching Out with No Hands is the first serious, critical, wide-ranging look at Yoko Ono the artist and musician.
A must-read for art and music fans interested in going beyond the stereotyped observations of Yoko as a Lennon hanger-on or inconsequential avant noisemaker.
168 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2012
8 people are currently reading
215 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Crystal Carver
21 books108 followersLisa Crystal Carver (born 1968[1]), also known as Lisa Suckdog, is an American writer known for her writing in Rollerderby.[2] Through her interviews, she introduced the work of Vaginal Davis, Dame Darcy, Cindy Dall, Boyd Rice, Costes (her ex-husband with whom she performed Suckdog), Nick Zedd, GG Allin, Kate Landau, Queen Itchie & Liz Armstrong to many. A collection of notable articles from the zine was published as Rollerderby: The Book.
She started touring with the performance art band Psycodrama when she was 18 years old.[3] It was also at this time that she became a prostitute, which has been a major theme in her writings over the years.[4] She began touring with Costes a year later, and would also tour without him when he was in France. She toured the U.S. and Europe six times, the last time in 1998. The noise music soap operas included audience interaction including dancing and mock-rape of audience members.[3]
Carver is the also the author of Dancing Queen: a Lusty Look at the American Dream, in which she expounds upon various relics of pop culture past, including Lawrence Welk, roller rinks, and Olivia Newton-John. In 2005, Soft Skull Press released her newest book, Drugs Are Nice, detailing her early childhood and later romantic relationships with Costes, Boyd Rice and Smog's Bill Callahan. In addition to writing her own 'zines and books, Carver has also written for various magazines (including Peter Bagge's comic book Hate) and kept a fictionalized journal about her sex life for the website Nerve. Although Carver no longer writes her journal for the site, she is still a semi-regular contributor. The online Journal at Nerve was subsequently published in book form as The Lisa Diaries: Four Years in the Sex Life of Lisa Carver and Company. (via Wikipedia)
She started touring with the performance art band Psycodrama when she was 18 years old.[3] It was also at this time that she became a prostitute, which has been a major theme in her writings over the years.[4] She began touring with Costes a year later, and would also tour without him when he was in France. She toured the U.S. and Europe six times, the last time in 1998. The noise music soap operas included audience interaction including dancing and mock-rape of audience members.[3]
Carver is the also the author of Dancing Queen: a Lusty Look at the American Dream, in which she expounds upon various relics of pop culture past, including Lawrence Welk, roller rinks, and Olivia Newton-John. In 2005, Soft Skull Press released her newest book, Drugs Are Nice, detailing her early childhood and later romantic relationships with Costes, Boyd Rice and Smog's Bill Callahan. In addition to writing her own 'zines and books, Carver has also written for various magazines (including Peter Bagge's comic book Hate) and kept a fictionalized journal about her sex life for the website Nerve. Although Carver no longer writes her journal for the site, she is still a semi-regular contributor. The online Journal at Nerve was subsequently published in book form as The Lisa Diaries: Four Years in the Sex Life of Lisa Carver and Company. (via Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
May 8, 2013
I'm stingy in my 5-star reviews, and for wholly selfish reasons. A 5-star book has to affect me personally, alter me, help me approach the world or my own writing differently. In some cases, it might be a functional book (The Chicago Manual of Style, or the Trouser Press Record Guide), or an exceedingly thoughtful work, like a collection of Chekhov short stories. But this gets one, and here's why.
Like Hunter Thompson, Carver's narrative starts unwinding self-consciously at the end, that point when she realizes that she's coming to the end of the story, and she still doesn't have the answers. What I love is that Carver allows herself to get palpably distressed. She's ostensibly writing a book praising Yoko Ono, or at least giving an honest assessment, but at certain points, she realizes that she's not onboard with everything that she's being asked to defend. Rather than hammer the facts into an alternate narrative where everything was part of a master plan, she just lets the question sit there. Why did Yoko withhold all of John Lennon's belongings from his son Julian, while auctioning off the bloody shirt Lennon was shot in? Why did she do something as corny as have people tie their wishes to the branches of a tree? Carver points out, again and again, in chapters ranging from 20 pages to a few paragraphs, that Yoko Ono was a woman and an artist of deep contradictions; tough and ethereal, shrewd and naive, universal and vindictive. But when she fights through every story to find Ono's universal nature, she sometimes gets tripped up, not for lack of verbal clarity (Carver says early on that she'll spend days at her computer, chasing down the thing she's trying to say, and I don't doubt it -- she's nothing but precise throughout), but because after all the instructions, gestures, wails, and decisions, some decisions are just too hard to defend. These fractures don't break the book, though. They strengthen it, like the healed place on a broken bone.
I've read enough bios to make a landfill cry, but it's rare to see a true examination of a person's life, and a controversial one at that. "Reaching Out With No Hands" is not just a rote recitation of faces and places, but one person's life filtered through another. Not that we ever thoroughly "get" Yoko Ono. She's not ours to get, and she's not Carver's to get, either. When Carver finally throws up her hands, it's then that we know we've seen a real person. One of the best books I'll read this year.
Like Hunter Thompson, Carver's narrative starts unwinding self-consciously at the end, that point when she realizes that she's coming to the end of the story, and she still doesn't have the answers. What I love is that Carver allows herself to get palpably distressed. She's ostensibly writing a book praising Yoko Ono, or at least giving an honest assessment, but at certain points, she realizes that she's not onboard with everything that she's being asked to defend. Rather than hammer the facts into an alternate narrative where everything was part of a master plan, she just lets the question sit there. Why did Yoko withhold all of John Lennon's belongings from his son Julian, while auctioning off the bloody shirt Lennon was shot in? Why did she do something as corny as have people tie their wishes to the branches of a tree? Carver points out, again and again, in chapters ranging from 20 pages to a few paragraphs, that Yoko Ono was a woman and an artist of deep contradictions; tough and ethereal, shrewd and naive, universal and vindictive. But when she fights through every story to find Ono's universal nature, she sometimes gets tripped up, not for lack of verbal clarity (Carver says early on that she'll spend days at her computer, chasing down the thing she's trying to say, and I don't doubt it -- she's nothing but precise throughout), but because after all the instructions, gestures, wails, and decisions, some decisions are just too hard to defend. These fractures don't break the book, though. They strengthen it, like the healed place on a broken bone.
I've read enough bios to make a landfill cry, but it's rare to see a true examination of a person's life, and a controversial one at that. "Reaching Out With No Hands" is not just a rote recitation of faces and places, but one person's life filtered through another. Not that we ever thoroughly "get" Yoko Ono. She's not ours to get, and she's not Carver's to get, either. When Carver finally throws up her hands, it's then that we know we've seen a real person. One of the best books I'll read this year.
March 24, 2015
Carver examines Ono from so many viewpoints that her book becomes the literary equivalent of looking at Ono through a kaleidoscope. There's a tiny bit of that annoyingly facile dichotomy – Wicked West vs. Wise East – so I'm only giving four stars, but overall an impressive work about a fascinating supergenius.
November 2, 2012
Yoko One is alright, but Lisa Carver writing about Yoko Ono is out of sight!
June 6, 2013
Lisa Crystal Carver is a national treasure and her books are always a gift to read. This book focuses more on what Yoko Ono is not, because she is a woman that cannot be defined or categorized simply. In understanding what she is not through Lisa's eyes and questioning our own personal assumptions, we learn to allow Yoko to just be. Another brilliant and fun piece by miss Carver.
October 22, 2024
An illuminating little book. I didn’t think I cared much about Yoko Ono but Lisa Carver worked her magic and I ended up caring and learning quite a bit.
March 28, 2016
My friend lent me this book. I'm not a Yoko Ono fan. I barely even realize Yoko exists, to be quite honest. I'm also not a big Beatles fan - I'm more of a Rolling Stones gal. I think it's ridiculous that people blamed Ono for splitting up the Beatles. If it were that easy to break up a band, then they were destined to break up.
Since she's not on my radar, I thought I'd try this book to see what she is about. I also like Lisa Carver (having read Drugs are Nice quite a while back). In the end, Ono seems unique and unapologetic. I don't think she made it on to my radar.
There were bits of this book that I completely loved, bits I rolled my eyes at Carver and declared her overreaching adoration annoying and bits that made me think about art a little differently. While I have been struggling with issues of people either disliking me or not wanting me involved in something (work-wise, personally I think people are solidly "ok" with me), I took some of the comments to heart. Ono has been, and still is, universally hated. Universally criticized and condemned. But she remains hopeful, positive and keeps creating art. She keeps pushing people to peace, even when it seems ridiculous, like explaining that if she had been Hitler's girlfriend, he would have been a peaceful, nice man. Her art is thought provoking, if people care to think about it. Her squalling and guttural noises may not qualify as music to you but they resonate with some.
All in all, Ono is unabashedly herself, regardless of the situation she is put in. And she'd like for you to be the same. Even if Ono isn't on your radar, this was an interesting read into her life.
Since she's not on my radar, I thought I'd try this book to see what she is about. I also like Lisa Carver (having read Drugs are Nice quite a while back). In the end, Ono seems unique and unapologetic. I don't think she made it on to my radar.
There were bits of this book that I completely loved, bits I rolled my eyes at Carver and declared her overreaching adoration annoying and bits that made me think about art a little differently. While I have been struggling with issues of people either disliking me or not wanting me involved in something (work-wise, personally I think people are solidly "ok" with me), I took some of the comments to heart. Ono has been, and still is, universally hated. Universally criticized and condemned. But she remains hopeful, positive and keeps creating art. She keeps pushing people to peace, even when it seems ridiculous, like explaining that if she had been Hitler's girlfriend, he would have been a peaceful, nice man. Her art is thought provoking, if people care to think about it. Her squalling and guttural noises may not qualify as music to you but they resonate with some.
All in all, Ono is unabashedly herself, regardless of the situation she is put in. And she'd like for you to be the same. Even if Ono isn't on your radar, this was an interesting read into her life.
January 20, 2013
The topic of Yoko Ono is one that makes most music fans either apprehensive or enraged. However, there is not a more suitable author than Lisa Carver to help us inspect and understand what Yoko Ono is really about.
The chapters are short and in bursts of fervent energy. Carver manages to surprise her fans with every new book of hers because she is consistently growing and bringing something new to the table. She dives so deeply into a subject of Ono or one of her works of art with ruthless abandon; then just as abruptly, comes up for air in time for the next essay.
No, Yoko Ono was not interviewed for this book; this was Lisa Carver's perspective. Carver specializes in solving the most puzzling emotions, looking at things in a way you would never have on your own and she applies those skills in a fascinating way here. And I must say, after reading this book, she has proven herself to be somewhat of a virtuoso at philosophy as well! She did a thorough job on examining Ono's life and work and added such a brilliant philosophical touch (and I don't think any other writer today would have the backbone to execute this book in that manner.. provided that they had the ability) that made the book itself a work of art.
Carver's philosophical mind shined in this one and it was impressive. Whether you like Ono, don't like Ono, don't know what the hell to make of Ono, you should definitely read this book. Especially if you're a creative person! I think this book will surprise you and maybe even inspire you. I would love to hear other people's opinions on it.
The chapters are short and in bursts of fervent energy. Carver manages to surprise her fans with every new book of hers because she is consistently growing and bringing something new to the table. She dives so deeply into a subject of Ono or one of her works of art with ruthless abandon; then just as abruptly, comes up for air in time for the next essay.
No, Yoko Ono was not interviewed for this book; this was Lisa Carver's perspective. Carver specializes in solving the most puzzling emotions, looking at things in a way you would never have on your own and she applies those skills in a fascinating way here. And I must say, after reading this book, she has proven herself to be somewhat of a virtuoso at philosophy as well! She did a thorough job on examining Ono's life and work and added such a brilliant philosophical touch (and I don't think any other writer today would have the backbone to execute this book in that manner.. provided that they had the ability) that made the book itself a work of art.
Carver's philosophical mind shined in this one and it was impressive. Whether you like Ono, don't like Ono, don't know what the hell to make of Ono, you should definitely read this book. Especially if you're a creative person! I think this book will surprise you and maybe even inspire you. I would love to hear other people's opinions on it.
September 14, 2018
"Read this book. Burn your life."
HOLD ON because this!!! Book!!!!!!!! Turned me upside down and inside out and I literally can't even begin to review it. Read. This. Book. And prepare to have the way you look at art, politics, and feminism fundamentally shaken up and spat out. I am fully in love with both Lisa Carver and Yoko Ono and honestly I dare anyone to say a bad word about Yoko to post-reading-this-book me.
HOLD ON because this!!! Book!!!!!!!! Turned me upside down and inside out and I literally can't even begin to review it. Read. This. Book. And prepare to have the way you look at art, politics, and feminism fundamentally shaken up and spat out. I am fully in love with both Lisa Carver and Yoko Ono and honestly I dare anyone to say a bad word about Yoko to post-reading-this-book me.
September 15, 2017
So many more stars than five. This little book is beyond beautiful, and Lisa Carver's willingness to look at herself alongside the honesty about her love (& occasional frustration) with Yoko Ono makes it all the more relevant. Loved every word on every page.
November 7, 2016
I really liked this author's writing style, so probably would've been a fan no matter who she was writing about. She revisits the many artistic statements that Yoko Ono has made since 1960--long before she ever met John Lennon--- to the present (the book was published in 2012). The book is formatted in a question-and-answer style, and she attempts to explain why Yoko is the way she is (not easy to do since she (Yoko) is enigmatic to say the least) and how her personality traits show up in her art as well as in her private life. The author pointed out that Yoko has been harshly judged in many ways (true) but did not hesitate to point out her more negative behavior (when Julian Lennon asked for the postcards he had sent to his dad as a keepsake after John's death, Yoko wanted to make him pay to get them back, as if she needed the money). I do think a lot of Yoko's art pieces are quite fascinating, though, on the positive side.....not her singing, though. All in all, an interesting book. **#96 of 120 books pledged to read/review during 2016**
May 27, 2018
The book got me to do what it wanted, reconsider Yoko Ono. I left with a slightly more positive impression of Ono, however the author of this book seriously needed a strong editor to keep her on track.
I'm sure the author has the excuse "it's a book about Yoko, it can be whatever I created and she would approve" but that doesn't make it a well written book. Run on paragraphs and general disorganization was the theme. The message managed to make it's way through, but it would have been a stronger message if it had been a stronger book.
I'm sure the author has the excuse "it's a book about Yoko, it can be whatever I created and she would approve" but that doesn't make it a well written book. Run on paragraphs and general disorganization was the theme. The message managed to make it's way through, but it would have been a stronger message if it had been a stronger book.
November 19, 2021
Lisa Carver is just the person to write a book about Yoko Ono and I loved it!! Yoko Ono is an amazing and complicated artist and so is Lisa Carver. Carver gives a really nuanced take on Yoko Ono and I loved this book.
October 8, 2019
I love Yoko and Lisa Carver is just the right writer to capture her spirit.
May 4, 2021
Understanding yourself as you understand Lisa Carver as she understands Yoko Ono. A great book for spiritual and creative self-centering. Thank you Lisa, thank you Yoko.
August 18, 2014
The brevity of this novel is necessary. Any longer and it would be overwhelming. The luminescence of these brief asides, musings, and presentations of the ineffability of Ono's work threatens to set your mind ablaze with the possibility of all unknowable worlds.
Lisa Carver, an artist in her own right, presents her treatise from many sources, from the ubiquitous Youtube commenter to somewhat inexplicably, Scott Disick. The absurdity of mass media a prosaic mirror to the pronounced absurdity of Ono and her relentless assertion that peace is pretty powerful. Every biography should have such a writer. A writer who is funny, unflinching, esoteric, and affected as Carver with her wonderful usage of exclamation points. What an underused and wonderful method of punctuation, and yet so appropriate for this writer and this subject.
First read: November 3, 2012
Second read: May 30, 2014
Lisa Carver, an artist in her own right, presents her treatise from many sources, from the ubiquitous Youtube commenter to somewhat inexplicably, Scott Disick. The absurdity of mass media a prosaic mirror to the pronounced absurdity of Ono and her relentless assertion that peace is pretty powerful. Every biography should have such a writer. A writer who is funny, unflinching, esoteric, and affected as Carver with her wonderful usage of exclamation points. What an underused and wonderful method of punctuation, and yet so appropriate for this writer and this subject.
First read: November 3, 2012
Second read: May 30, 2014
October 14, 2013
Best Lisa Carver book yet. She approaches her subject with such intellectual vigor and brutal compassion, assembling a hyperbolic realism that brings my appreciation of Yoko Ono to greater levels than before (and I already love Yoko Ono). I appreciate Carver's incisive and humorous reports on the bigoted attacks launched against Yoko Ono throughout her life, and the superficial presumptions, dismissive attitudes, and and and… always showing us that whatever life hands Yoko Ono, she'll absorb it and turn it into her own relentless power. Again and again this book brings back to focus the profound significance of Yoko Ono's work as an artist, a musician and an all-around peace-loving iconoclast.
March 5, 2014
I wish I liked this book more, but it just didn't work for me. I would have preferred a more straight forward narrative. Instead, the book is Carver's random thoughts on Yoko Ono, which isn't that compelling. I just didn't get much out of it.
I do recommend reading the abridged version that was published in the NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/21/mag...
I do recommend reading the abridged version that was published in the NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/21/mag...
November 21, 2016
I can't say that I loved the writing. I think I was hoping for somethings more in-depth. But anytime I read about Yoko I feel inspired, and feel like I am remembering parts of my self that have been left behind for too long.
November 3, 2012
I didn't really know how to rate this with stars. There are brilliant paragraphs, perfect sentences and then paragraphs that made me wonder how they ever got by an editor.
November 23, 2012
Small book, but well done. Makes you think.
June 8, 2013
Min recension hittar ni här: http://ciliaskultur.blogspot.se/2013/...
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews