Pulphead, Essays by John Jeremiah Sullivan

This book has been receiving a great deal of press over the last few weeks. With write ups in magazines including The New Yorker a case has been made that this collection proves the vitality of the modern day essayist is very strong.

I cannot disagree. I love essays. I love the New Yorker. What makes the New Yorker so strong to me is that you can have articles where you learn about banannas and apples which my children enjoying reiviewing with me, to indepth political writing, commentary by some of the best in the business and some of the best writers in the world such as Roger Angel, Ian Frazier and Malcolm Gladwell just to name a few.

John J Sullivan does not write for The New Yorker. He writes or has written for GQ, The Oxford American and others. He writes...magnigicently.

This collection of essays might be the strongest thing I will read all year.

A review of the essays is as follows.

Upon This Rock finds Sullivan visiting a Christian Rock festival. While he disdains the term Christian Rock and finds the performers of it often a shill to crass marketing strategies Sullivan finds that as much as he would like to be cynical about those attending the festival he cannot be. He finds little to criticize and much to compliment, albeit in a manner that makes one think of how fond we are of people who believe in something and gain from it, something that we ourselves cannot make the leap to belive.

Feet in Smoke tells he personal story of his older brother Werth is electrocuted from a mike stand when singing in his rock band. He miracuously lives, Sullivan documents the month he spent at his brothers side while his brain was rewiring itself. It is funny and yet not mean funny as he talks of a nurse stating wouldn't it be great if his brother stayed in the innocent disoriented state he was in and he was humbled to admit he felt that too.

An Essay for Mr Andrew Lytle tells of his time at Swannee College when he was the live in companion of the great Southern writer Andrew Lytle.

At a Shelter tells of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Getting Down to What's Really Real explores what happens to some of your favorite stars of MTV's the Real World when their time on the air is over.

Two essays about famous figures, one about Micheal Jackson shortly after his death, one about the ever on the comeback trail Axl Rose. They both are funny and personally told with the Rose story being a true keeper.

American Grotesque takes a meanandering look at the health care battle and how it affects deep into the spine of the American culture of haves and have nots.

Two stories are of a naturalist bent. Sullivan writes about An Eccentric Naturalist named Constantine Rafinesque who was busy in America in the first half of the nineteenth century. Eccentric and Crazy yes. Genius would be another word. In Unnamed Caves Sullivan explores the caves of the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee, their history and their discoveries in the last one hundred years and what it all means.

In Unknown Bards the writer explores the not exactly booming business, but very dedicated group of folks who troll looking for soul, rhythem and blues..i.e black music from the first half of the twentieth century. Most of these performers you have never heard or heard of but it is said and Sullivan agrees that listening to some of this music will be a life changing experience.

Sullivan writes a story about meeting Bunny Wailer, the last of the Bob Marley wailers and along the way explores Jamaica and the Rasta movement.

Perhaps the weakest story is Violence of the Lambs. This is a story about the changing behaviors of animal species, the effects of global warming and as we learn near the end much of the story is farcical though Sullivan maintains many of the animal attack incidents written are real.

Lastly Sullivan tells of the experience of living in Peyton's house. Peyton being a character on the television show One Tree Hill. His house, before being purchased by him, had been used for external and internal scenes on the show and to help meet the mortgage he decides to continue the practice. He takes us through that experience, the benefits and his eventual dissatisfaction with it.

Reading this book is like reading a great issue of your favorite literary magazine with an issue dedicted to articles by your favorite colulmnist, essayist or whatever you choose to call him.

Sullivan's writing is fantastic. This is a must read.