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Book Reviews
Oh, Play That Thing
David Seymour
David Seymour is a freelance jazz journalist in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA.Oh, Play That Thing is about freedom: Freedom of speech, freedom to conduct business, sexual freedom, freedom from political upheaval, blood vengeance, race and class restrictions. Ride free. With regards to the idealistic passions of an opportunist asshole, Irish and American novels aren't so different. To Henry—even more so than America herself—Mister Armstrong's free-reeling jazz promised life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Doyle convincingly portrays a revolutionary white man who trades guns and bombs for jazz, all because of a black man's cornet. Henry makes his poignant cultural observations with remarkably few sermons. Now, his dames, on the other hand...
Roddy Doyle is a celebrated author of novels, stage and screen plays, a BBC mini-series, children's books, as well as numerous essays and articles. He was a 1991 Booker Prize Finalist, and the 1993 Booker Prize winner. Oh, Play That Thing certainly isn't his finest work, but it's the one jazz fans will be most interested in. Doyle portrays Louis Armstrong with dignity and humor, in a way you definitely haven't experienced.
Also by Roddy Doyle, the prequel to Oh, Play That Thing:
A Star Called Henry, Paperback, 402 pages, Penguin Group, ISBN: 0143034618
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