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Tracy Reilly

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Tracy is Currently Reading

Tracy Reilly is currently reading

Shakey: Neil Young's Biography

by Jimmy McDonough

bookshelves: currently-reading, rock-music

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Tracy Reilly said: " Only at page 60, but what great book to exist!I've been a fan since I first heard of him in high school in the 70s, and remained true all my life, although my interest wavered some after the century turned over a bit, knew very little of his real lif Only at page 60, but what great book to exist!I've been a fan since I first heard of him in high school in the 70s, and remained true all my life, although my interest wavered some after the century turned over a bit, knew very little of his real life, other than the most obvious that a rock obsessed wanna-be musician would know: bands and leaving of bands, marriages to Carrie Snodgress and Pegi, two kids with cerebral palsy, his Canadian roots, California ranch, political and charitable inputs. Knew he was a tech geek due to seeing his SOLO Trans show, one of 3-4 times I saw him live plus the movies.

But what most kept me keeping on with Neil was HIM, his dry, unpredictable, and wonky take on life--he somehow seemed to have the key to how to live. I admired his style, his dark and stormy sense of humor that came through in his lyrics, the rare interviews I could find, and his stage presence.

And already, by page 60, I am now admiring Jimmy McDonough's deep capture of that presence. To give you an idea, by page 60, Neil is still a Canadian kid with white bucks who still doesn't own a guitar. Early chapters do deep submergence, with much appreciated original quotes!, into his family and upbringing--what a bunch of characters. Rassy, his colorful mother, and Scott, his well-known writer father...Neil doesn't spring from nothing, but you still get the feeling he rose whole from this environment a separate entity. Rassy, mouthy and tomboyish, says her favorite song is "Sedan Delivery": she used to sneak over to a neighbor's to play piano when her mother forbade her because of some personal piccadillo. Scott was , surprising maybe to Neil fans, sports enthusiast and sports writer (Neil preferred fishing and turtles?) , who traveled a lot, was charming, ambitious and logical. He sold gopher tails to make money as a kid. And the biographer even goes back another generation or two in the families. These are just the kind of things I needed to know about Neil, even though I wouldn't have been able to say so beforehand. ...more "

Aug 10, 2025 09:26AM · see review

Tracy Reilly is currently reading

Between the World and Me

by Ta-Nehisi Coates

bookshelves: currently-reading, didn-t-finish

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Tracy Reilly said: " Didn't finish ,only because I gave it to a student I hoped would read it ...more "

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(page 0 of 152)
— Mar 26, 2025 09:34AM

Mar 26, 2025 09:37AM · see review

Tracy Reilly is currently reading

Slow Learner: Early Stories

by Thomas Pynchon

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Tracy Reilly said: " I'm not finished yet, will probably change the review stars, but want to jot down my early thoughts. This isn't the correct edition I have, but I can't find any others listed on GR. Maybe it's the weird , unexpected source from which I got this early I'm not finished yet, will probably change the review stars, but want to jot down my early thoughts. This isn't the correct edition I have, but I can't find any others listed on GR. Maybe it's the weird , unexpected source from which I got this early collection of TP short stories, which , I think from reading the author's forward, was his first published collection.

My odd source was my local recycle shed. See, I live way out in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, and we have to tote our own trash and have no monthly garbage fees, as a result! I kinda dig it: it's not that big a deal to drop a bag of trash and sort out the recyclables every Sunday on our way to the Food Lion grocery store. Kinda cathartic. Every once in a while, I drop off some some detritus from my life that's clogging up the works, like an old pan, table, piece of tech, or shirt I haven't used in a while...into a brilliant local thing called the recycling shed. You can drop off your personal extras, and look through other persons' detritus, and take them if they tickle your fancy. I love the communism of it, but don't let the locals hear me call it that!

One day, a few months back, I dropped off some crap, and looked through the books lined up on the shelves. I was heartened to realize someone had taken my cast off Norton Anthology of American Lit and extraneous ratty copy I'd had of 1984. Then I spied a gem...what? Thomas Pyncheon??!! A pristine, possibly unread copy, of a book I've never heard of, with a high end cover and unbroken spine? What free treasure is here? It was called SLOW LEARNER, and it was apparently Pyncheon's first published book of short stories.

In the front was an interesting and insightful self-analysis of this early work by the author himself. He agonized over his lack of form, young writer's naivete, and general embarrassment that was quite refreshing to see in a novelist so well known for his avant -guardism and difficulty. I had started my interest in Pyncheon with, to me, the easily understood symbolism of THE CRYING OF LOT 49 (really should re-read that one, but can't find my copy) and graduated to GRAVITY"S RAINBOW--what the hell, but brilliant!! In SLOW LEARNER, the seeds are there, but you can also feel what Pyncheon cringed about. Not that it's bad! but just not quite his later form--any writer would be proud to call this collection theirs! More later when i finish, but lots of army years reminiscing ... ...more "

Oct 14, 2023 01:57PM · see review

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