Vaughn and Ron Trod On... Deeper and Deeper
924428
There have been plenty of far more distinguished individuals who have written of the wonders of Midnite, and I'm not going to pretend I was one of the first to recognize this band's incredible importance, but hopefully I may be worthy to say a few kind words about their latest record.  Most people know the deal by now; Midnite is from St. Croix/Washington D.C., active since the 1980s, and the core members remain the brothers Vaughn and Ron Benjamin.  Like the Universe itself their catalog is ever-expanding with no signs of slowing down.  Thankfully, the band tours relentlessly and can often be found up and down California.  While, most new releases are often credited to "Midnite" (or in various alterations), some may only feature Vaughn's Benjamin's incomparable wordplay and vocal stylings.  I do not intend the previous comment to be a slight as you can spend several incredibly worthwhile lifetimes trying to decipher V. Benjamin's various codices, I'm just trying to clear that up because it can get confusing.  Anyways, this release is with Ron and Vaughn recorded at their "home" studio, African Roots Lab.  The record features 14 brand new tracks and every song is completely different from the next.  The common threads that bind each track, however, are the uncompromising production standards and musicianship.  I strongly encourage you to listen in surround sound with a sub of at least 10," in order to fully experience their approach to reggae.  Vaughn's words will send you scrambling for a pen and pad while he spins webs and webs of words.  Each phrase may have multiple meanings and always require repeated listenings.  Ron Benjamin is a musical mastermind fully adept at a multitude of instruments but his talents are often fully realized through bottomless bass lines and waves of synth sounds.  My favorite songs include "He Say She Say" which may be the first time that Ron has taken over vocal duties for a complete song, "Anthology" for the interplay between the organ changeups and the vocal indictments presented by Vaughn.  Equally impressive tracks include "Vengeance and Tears" which highlights the classic way Midnite builds their songs with tension and release, "Anarchy" for the mesmerizing message, and "Judge the Pride" for the THUNDERING BASSLINE and cascading keys.
1643512
I'm so bummed that I found out about this so early because now I have to wait for the next one! I love this series and it is definitely my favorite of Brian K Vaughn. It's a little disturbing at some parts, which is why I love it. Don't read this if you get uncomfortable easy.
758100
Meesha and De'Nesha are back with a pimp, a playa, a killer, and a drug dealer...all major components in the hood, the ghetto, the projects, whichever is your description of choice. They introduce Tavon 'Sweet' Johnson, the infamous pimp that works his moneymakers on poles as well as private parties. He invests his income into lucrative sexually-based businesses. Sex is his business and his business is to sexually pleasure all who seek him and his Diamond trim out for their freakiest fantasies. Then we have the equally wealthy and business savvy Kaseem, who assumed the HNIC title when Maleek, the hoods' predecessor caught a bid and had to vacate the throne. Kaseem luxuriates in the perks with the job, but there's a longing for something other than this lifestyle. An unexpected package shows up with his ex-girl that broke his heart, but it only intensifies his determination to try a different path in life. But will the love of his life, Quilla, be willing to ride or die?

DeMarcus is an ex-gang banger finds forgiveness in Allah and is released from the prison system after 10 years of incarceration. His girlfriend Zoey's allegiance is empowering and reaffirms his commitment to remain legit. Being an ex-convict constantly assassinates any job opportunities for DeMarcus, and it destroys Zoey's career. He also battles a corrupt parole officer and the call of the old life. Rhakmon, the ladies man, hustles fake designer bags, sexes as many women as he can, and takes their money while getting inside their heads for his profit. This is his 'one' game plan. A night of frightening sexual egotism has placed Rhakmon in an awful position which he masterfully turns the table on his latest victim, Shaterica.

The Hood Life is the third installation to Meesha and De'Nesha's Hood series, and it is every bit as wild as the previous two. Of course 'the hood' wouldn't be the same without Ms. Cleo and Ms. Osceola on the front stoop getting it all and then some. This storyline varies as the authors explore another focal point with the story being from the male point of view. They touch on all aspects of these four characters storylines and have you once again rapidly reading from beginning to the very end and more than likely have to do a 'rerun' of another hit novel. The characters have a lot of dark sides which makes this a very different yet dangerously alluring read! Hot sex scenes, a bit of suspenseful and compassionate moments only further enchants the readers. Ms. Meesha Mink and Ms. De'Nesha Diamond are once again on point in their game and have mesmerized their fan base with challenging and mesmerizing stories of life in the hood! Wonderful job ladies!
4802301
Gibson Vaughn, Gibson Vaughn, Gibson Vaughn! Riveting character, riveting book. Cant wait to read more, but for now I have to do some other things, but will be on book 3 before the end of the day!
1332550
This book just gets better and better the further on you go.  It's a bit slow at the first 1/4 or so, but really picks up.  A great read that really puts you on Mars.  At times the main character's dialog is a bit pedestrian and 'dude like', and that's distracting.  There's just no way a hyper trained / hyper educated guy is going to talk like this...  Still, I couldn't put it down.
4002912
I heard a lot of buzz about this book, so I figured I'd give it a go. That was yesterday.

'Hustle' in an insane mind-warp. Donny and "Big Rich" are young men selling themselves on the streets of San Francisco in a never-ending attempt to "get well" - cop dope. When Big Rich comes up with a way to hustle a wealthy old man, he recruits Donny and the two of them set out for the big score... until they find out they're not the only players, and the stakes are deadly.

There are a number of things I like about this book. By page one, I was in Donny and Big Rich's world. The description and feel of a life on the streets of San Francisco is accessible to any reader and if the story had been only about that life, it still would've been great. The big hustle, and everything that followed, was icing.

 Tom Pitts has a way of changing perspectives throughout the novel, from Donny to Big Rich to Gabriel, the old man, to Bear, the biker, even in mid scene, without the reader having the reader confused about who's perspective they're in. This is a very difficult thing to pull off, And Pitts does it seamlessly. The subject matter is rough, it will challenge you. Be challenged.
2834903
Things just got kicked up a notch! Meg & Vaughn are trying to navigate the waters of a semi-relationship whilst dealing with her brother and some friends that don't approve, his family and all of his friends that don't, her cray-cray abusive ex, and each other as they are.
Okay so they made it over the last hurdle but I'll be darned if road blocks don't keep popping up. Meg is making progress with her brother regarding Vaughn(yay her) but Vaughn is feeling the pressure of not being there for his gang.......hmmm.
This book is really good, still spicy(oh yeah), and sweet(who doesn't love two people going against the odds to try to be together).
I will be padding(lots of concealer)the bags under my eyes for work tomorrow because I must stay up wayyyyyy past my bedtime to at least start book 3....I just have to!!
You should too.
Love this series
1742040
An almost complete detour for Hendrix, and amazing all the same. When you realize they rehearsed for a month prior, it is all the more incredible. How Capitol passed on some of these tracks on the original BoG album is a mystery to me.
4144785
In 2005 Vince Vaughn decided to recreate a Rat Pack assemblage of improvised sketches and comedy sets involving some of the greatest talents from the L.A. Comedy Store. He decided to tour 30 cities across the Midwest and bring a variety show to places that typically didn't see huge performances - a slice of high-quality entertainment outside of the New York area. With special musical and guest appearances, sensational variety show performances and hilarious comic acts, Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show is a must-see documentary that takes audiences from a variety of venues to behind-the-scenes moments of the 30 day non-stop event.

Vince Vaughn hosts each variety show, introducing guest stars Justin Long, Jon Favreau, Keir O'Donnell (the gay, reclusive painter from Wedding Crashers), Peter Billingsley (Ralphie from A Christmas Story) and many others, performs in various skits, and then introduces four hand-picked comedians who each do their routine. Ahmed Ahmed, of Egyptian descent, raised in Riverside, California, opens each stand-up segment and musters great laughter with his edgy take on Arabs and the racial profiling that he witnesses and has been a victim to. Many of his jokes are based on real-life experiences, including his incarceration at an airport with a police record stating his offense was "Airport Rules". Initially unsupported by his parents, Ahmed stuck with his passion for comedy and his love of movies and can be seen in the upcoming films You Don't Mess with the Zohan and Iron Man.

Comedian John Caparulo distinguishes himself with an extraordinarily foul mouth and sarcastic temperament, and is easily one of the funniest stand-up performers around. Taking stabs at cable TV men, porn and intelligent dogs, his acerbic brand of humor is ruthlessly witty. During the 30 day tour, two of the shows had to be kept clean for reserved audiences, and John had particular difficulty with his excessive language, and uproariously found himself cutting of the punchlines of jokes that concluded inappropriately. "It's a really cool thing to have a job that's cathartic," he says, thankful for the opportunity to be working with such an elite coterie of performers.

Bret Ernst is the most animated of the foursome, and does a staggeringly accurate bit on skating rinks and the cool kids that have all the moves versus the kids who use the appalling rental skates. Italian waiter-turned-comedian Sebastian Maniscalco delivers maddeningly humorous ribs at Ross stores, apple martinis and girls in bars.

Instead of merely presenting footage from the different cities and performances, Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show takes it a step further and fuses a reality-TV behind-the-scenes camera to all of the interactions leading up to the stage, as well as afterwards. Pranks on the tour bus and the stressful condition of sharing a room with four guys is continually displayed, often contributing to the blurring of acts throughout the venues. At times the group gets fed up with the claustrophobia of it all, but ultimately it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience that everyone would ardently repeat.

While some cities barely get touched upon at all, and several sketches are shown only in brief montages, the film enlightens audiences well beyond a simple stand-up routine. When the group changes its course due to storms, and then proposes to offer benefit shows for survivors of Rita and Katrina, a touching additional side of humanity and cooperation is manifested that makes this collection of stars much more than ordinary performers. Bringing laughter to those in dire situations is a noble act that certainly isn't unappreciated - laughter proves to be the best medicine, and everyone involved is clearly bettered for having participated in this unique and colossal road show.

- Mike Massie
1221901
Following the path of man down through a historical background Vaughn drops you into the lives of the people of the world some years after the flood. The spreading out of man upon the earth takes time yet 100 years goes by with heroes and villains falling back into the nature of man once again. The struggle is long for man,yet will we learn after all of those years?Peal back the pages and live their lives of struggle as it does have a ring of here we go again! A GOOD READ,that will take you to the people of the tower you will have to get them both,yet it is worth every shekel or dime you spend.
1336616
Fun in a typical Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson way, but it's definitely not as LMAO as some of their best. Still love these guys though.
74699
This book would be even better if Mr. Vaughn would do it as an audio.  I can only imagine "Mr. Cool" relating and reliving the words. Very insightful in so many ways.
4775907
(3.5)

Russell and Corrine Calloway move in all the right circles, but at the grand banquet that is New York society they're seated at the childrens table. Yes, Russell owns his company, but its a publishing firm and while it has cachet it doesnt have much cash. They live at an enviable address downtown, but in a cramped loft with one bathroom for four people. When Bright, Precious Days opens Russell is enjoying a bump in his literary success with a talented young author hes just signed. Its the heady days in the late aughts when the trauma of 9/11 has passed and the crash of 2009 is yet to come. Author Jay McInerney brings Russell and Corrine back from his previous novel, Brightness Falls, and ushers them into the angst of middle-age.

You cant write a novel set in Manhattan without location coming into play and McInerney makes it the quiet crux of Bright, Precious Days. For the Calloways its a pressing issue, as their apartment is going condo and the cash to buy-in will be difficult to obtain. For Russell there is no choice

What he wanted to say was that being a resident not only of Manhattan but of downtown was an irreducible core of his identity. He was as muchif not morea New Yorker as those who found themselves born here through the accident of birthhe and his tribe of restless striving immigrants from the provinces and the farthest corners of the earth, whod ben inexorably drawn here and had made the city their own, whod shaped it and been shaped by it. P. 234

If location defines you, then it is likely youll go to great lengths to maintain this identity and Russell does. What has always been black and white becomes grey as he maneuvers to hold onto the man hes always thought he was. Truth and beauty are walloped by crass commerce.

Corrines challenges are different. Namely, the return of a man she met after 9/11 and with whom she had an affair. Wildly wealthy, he wants to rekindle their relationship and change her life. As Russell and Corrines stories gain momentum, their whirlpool widens to include their children, family, and friends. From a slightly trashy sister who was the egg donor for their twins and cant seem to keep quiet about it, to dear friends having affairs with other dear friends the plot eddies and swirls. McInerney keeps it from becoming a soap opera with enough introspection to give Bright, Precious Days some depth.

If youve never experienced the lure of Manhattan in literature (aka Bonfire of the Vanities, Swans of Fifth Avenue, et al) then Bright, Precious Days may seem overwrought. These are people living life in ways most of us don't and so when things go wrong, they go really wrong. It is not just Russell and his pretensions, McInerney explores the whole New York experience through each of his characters lives. It may not always feel relatable, but the what-ifs, what-nows, and what-thens of marriage and friendship at middle age strike a very real note.
4287880
Politics, corrupt cops/lawyers and Amyrack workers being this story to life. Some people will do whatever to make  and get paid! Fortunately, for Eddy Coburn his cousin, Vaughn, is a hell of a lawyer who represents him. Vaughn fights until the 11th hour of the trial. There is mystery with plenty of suspicious characters that are intriguing but from a  vs  standpoint good rules.

I now recognize this is a series, so I will read the other two .
353721
I was sent an advanced copy of Every Giant Becomes a Monster by the publisher.  The back of the book calls it a "modern underground noir" which immediately excited me. Noir seems like a lost genre these days. The main character/narrator is Colson, a 19-year-old noise musician who by way of hopping trains from Los Angeles has found his way to a desert city in Arizona. I thought the author's choice to write Colson as noise musician was fascinating.  Noise music is not a common musical genre by any stretch so while I found it odd at first, it eventually made perfect sense as the book progressed, as the main character used it both as a weapon and as a source of self-therapy.

On his first night in this desert town of Flagtrapp, Arizona, Colson encounters a bartender named Donna which sets the stage for the rest of the story.  Early on in the book we find Colson in a bit of a sticky situation and Donna ends up helping him out.  Her Samaritan act leads to slight delusions by our main character and he finds himself in unfamiliar territory.  He isn't used to attractive women paying him much mind and it balloons into an all-out obsession. There is however one slight problem, in the form of an Iraqi war vet from the invasion of 2003. His name is Travis and he happens to be Donna's legal husband.  Returning to America in the mid 2000s without much hope and carrying a lot of baggage from his service has left him demoralized to say the least. He now lives on a steady diet of drugs, booze, and floozies, much to the chagrin of Donna. He also has a flair for violence, something he perhaps hasn't been able to shed after being trained as a killer by the Marines. It doesn't help matters that he is resentful and full of guilt for things he did and witnessed in the Middle East.  This only causes more pain which leads to swimming deeper in vices.

Early on we see that Travis and Colson find common ground in regards to music. One of the main settings of the book is a DIY, punk rock club in town that traveling musicians play shows at when passing through. Travis and Colson work on some music together, something Travis hadn't been too inspired about since returning from war, and spend time at The Cave, the aforementioned DIY punk venue.  What Travis doesn't yet know is that Colson has built up a rather large obsession with his wife Donna.  Without saying much, I will say that Travis isn't exactly the best husband so it comes as no surprise when Donna eventually warms up to Colson in a romantic way.

To leave it as open as possible, let's just say that things don't exactly go well when Travis finds out what Colson's actual intentions are. From that point on in the book we are taken on quite a ride. The book was impossible to put down from there. The thing I really enjoyed about it is that it felt as though I was right there. The author has a great writing style and really does an excellent job bringing the reader right into every scene. Descriptively, the writing was top notch. A scene surrounding a punk rock club in the middle of the desert isn't something your average person has experienced but I really felt like I had been there.

When I finished reading Every Giant Becomes a Monster I would say that my emotions had certainly run the gamut, something I gladly welcome when reading any book. If it's written well, our emotions should swing like a leaf falling in the wind, never certain of where it will land. It's nice to see something fresh written in this genre and I certainly look forward to seeing what this author does next.
3510095
I love almost all of Vaughn's work. This one, while not my favorite, definitely deserves to be read. This is a graphic novel that struggles with the politics of freedom, violence, war and their concomitant ideologies. Based on the true story of 4 escaped lions during the bombing of Baghdad, Vaughn weaves a tale for children and adults that is thick enough to warrant serious conversation about the kind of world we live in. The artwork is stellar as well.
2388715
#Thingsyoucantunknow Vaughn was really naughty. He should have told Grace instead of keeping more secrets. He did tell her that he loved her, but the secret he kept was a doozy and Grace does not take it well. We are slowly learning her secrets and it isn't easy for Grace to share them. #MrandMrsInvisibleM deserve a chance so keep reading! Enjoy!