Louis Barfe
His Master’s Voice
Perfecting Sound Forever: The Story of Recorded Music
By Greg Milner
Granta Books 416pp £20 order from our bookshop
In his 1950s radio series, the American satirist Stan Freberg portrayed a hi-fi nut called Herman Horne. In his pursuit of perfect audio, Horne counselled moving out of one’s main dwelling in order to exploit its acoustic capabilities fully. The true range of sounds could only be enjoyed ‘as you and your wife sit of an evening, shivering in the garage, listening to your house’.
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In this month's Silenced Voices, @lucyjpop shines a light on the tragic case of Shady Habash, a filmmaker who died in an Egyptian prison in May.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/shady-habash
One study found that hoarders 'had lesions on the mesial prefrontal cortex of their brains ... Collecting and hoarding, in other words, are the results of brain damage.'
James Delbourgo explores the psychology of minimalists & collectors.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/gardens-of-emptiness
New double issue of @Lit_Review just out. Lots of incisive reviews ( including by @BurlM11 ) of a wide range of new history, politics, fiction and general books plus a nice little piece on Philip Larkin. Thoroughly recommended!