Reviews
"A book pondering the aesthetics of Céline risks going wrongin about 3,000 different ways...Instead, this book goes very deeply right." -New York Magazine, "Wilson's approach to Celine Dion...stands out. Wilson examines why he loathes it, its creator and everything about her-- and what inspires devotion in her bast army of followers around the world...Clever and witty, it almost make me seek out the album. But not quite." --The Herald, Glasgow, "I still don't like what I know of Dion's music and probablynever will. But Wilson's efforts toexamine the rote critical assumption that Celine Dion's music blows digs up allkinds of fascinating issues about the nature of taste and the hierarchy of popculture." Bohemian.com, "This erudite and eye-opening book attempts to explore not only Dion's polarizing appeal but also the very concept of "taste." Along the way, Wilson traces his loathing for Dion back to her Oscars performance alongside Elliott Smith, examines the meaning of "schmaltz" and Dion's French-Canadian roots, meets her adoring fans, sees her Vegas show, reviews the album (it's the one with that Titanic song), and analyzes theories on taste from David Hume, Immanuel Kant, and Pierre Bourdieu (turns out social distinction plays a big part). By the end, Wilson has set the blueprint for a kind of music criticism that "might put less stock in defending its choices and more in depicting its enjoyment, with all its messiness and private soul tremors-- to show what it is like for me to like it, and invite you to compare." In other words, let's talk about love." -Pitchfork feature "Our 60 Favorite Music Books", By exploring taste, kitsch, culture, fans, the state ofcontemporary criticism, Quebec nationalism, and economics in Celine Dion's Let'sTalk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste, Carl Wilson manages to produceone of the most interesting and erudite books on why people love and hatecertain kinds of art...Readers will find themselves evaluating their views onarts with added scrutiny after reading this surprising and provocative book --HipsterBook Club|9780826427885|, "This could be the best book of the series...razor-sharp and unerringly intelligent." -John Wenzel, The Denver Post, "'Morally you could fairly ask, Wilson writes, 'what is more laudable about excess in the name of rage and resentment than immoderation in thrall to love and connection?' That is, indeed, a fair and moral question, and it leads Wilson to wonder 'if anyone's tastes stand on solid ground, starting with mine.' He doesn't reach any definite conclusions, but the conversation he carries on through the centuries with everyone from philosophers David Hume and Immanuel Kant to sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, is by turns enlightening, provocative and unexpectedly moving. Wilson aptly calls Let's Talk About Love 'an experiment in taste,' and maybe as much as anything else, the book argues that such an experiment is one we'd all do well to conduct." " No Depression, "This book is especially interesting on Dion's background... His book is intelligent and often moving." -The Daily Telegraph, "This could be the best book of the series...razor-sharp and unerringly intelligent." --John Wenzel, The Denver Post, "A bit of a departure for Continuum's 33 1/3 series exploringclassic records...readers of the dizzingly dweeby intellectualizing that oftenmakes Wilson's blog an exhausting pleasure to read will not be surprised that,for him, a discussion of the love theme from Titanic must encompass an examinationof Quebecois culture, the history of parlour entertainment as it relates to theimmigrant experience, the philosophies of Hume and Kant and the sociologicalexperiments of Pierre Bordieu." --Eye Weekly, "A book pondering the aesthetics of C line risks going wrongin about 3,000 different ways...Instead, this book goes very deeply right." -New York Magazine, &"An important study- not just of Dion and pop music but also of the changing nature of criticism in the popular realm.&" --Andy Battaglia, Bookforum, "Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste offersa rare combination of compelling research and enormously entertaining writing,a real find for students of popular culture. It's a compact little volumepacked with keen insights into the ideologies that have shaped music criticismand scholarship, thought-provoking commentary on problems of aesthetics, andsensitive reflexive analysis. That reflexivity, along with a carefulbalance of critical theory and field research, makes this work particularlyappropriate for courses with an ethnomusicological angle. And asethnomusicologists continue to cultivate a growing sub-field in popular musicstudies, Let's Talk About Love is a timely and valuable resource." -Katherine Meizel, Lecturer in Ethnomusicology,University of California, Santa Barbara st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }&, &"Wilson's approach to Celine Dion...stands out. Wilson examines why he loathes it, its creator and everything about her-- and what inspires devotion in her bast army of followers around the world...Clever and witty, it almost make me seek out the album. But not quite.&" --The Herald, Glasgow, "Constantlyinteresting and thought-provoking...and I think he can teach us a few valuablethings about criticism, for what it's worth." Uncut, UK, "A bit of a departure for Continuum's 33 1/3 series exploringclassic records...readers of the dizzingly dweeby intellectualizing that oftenmakes Wilson's blog an exhausting pleasure to read will not be surprised that,for him, a discussion of the love theme from Titanic must encompass an examinationof Quebecois culture, the history of parlour entertainment as it relates to theimmigrant experience, the philosophies of Hume and Kant and the sociologicalexperiments of Pierre Bordieu." Eye Weekly, "This book seriously explores the wide divide between mainstream pop that is mass-marketed and purchased, and the critics who usually sneer at it for those very reasons. It's a heady work that examines everything from 'reductive Marxist theories of culture' to why critics value restrained singing while 'American Idol' fans embrace 'show-offy' technical power." -Las Vegas Review Journal, &"This could be the best book of the series...razor-sharp and unerringly intelligent.&" --John Wenzel, The Denver Post&, &"A wide-ranging book, one predicated on the possibility that what repels us may say more about us than what attracts us...[an] insightful, engaging, and unexpectedly moving book.&" -Jason Anderson, The Globe and Mail, "I still don't like what I know of Dion's music and probablynever will. But Wilson's efforts toexamine the rote critical assumption that Celine Dion's music blows digs up allkinds of fascinating issues about the nature of taste and the hierarchy of popculture." --Bohemian.com, "Framed by an irresistableconcept...Wilsonturns the [33 1/3] series on its head by seriously considering a blockbusterhit by Celine Dion." --ChristopherGray, Portland Phoenix, "...a brilliant read and a total eye-opener. Unlike other contributors, Wilson doesn't shore up another crumbling wall of the canon but dives into a world of kitsch to ask what makes us hate music. How can we know that 'bad' music really is bad, and what is taste anyway? It'll shake all your critical certainties, which is not a very good idea when you're in my line of work." -The Word Magazine, "Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste is Canadian journalist Carl Wilson's Celine Dion contribution to Continuum's inspired 33 1/3 series of short books ... Music criticism is often just guy-world. Wilson is the real thing. I can't praise this small book enough. Smart, but humane." Heather Wilson, CBC, Monday 25th February 2008., "Wilsoncovers a lot of ground in his 161-page quest; the second half of the book readslike a Cultural Studies power ballad, invoking Roland Barthes, Theodor Adorno,Immanuel Kant, Clement Greenberg, Arthur C. Danto, and scores of othercontemporary critics in rapid succession. Perhaps most impressively, Wilson condenses Frenchsociologist Pierre Bourdieu's mammoth (and seminal) tome Distinction: A SocialCritique of the Judgment of Taste into one spry little chapter." -Rain Taxi, &"...a brilliant read and a total eye-opener. Unlike other contributors, Wilson doesn't shore up another crumbling wall of the canon but dives into a world of kitsch to ask what makes us hate music. How can we know that 'bad' music really is bad, and what is taste anyway? It'll shake all your critical certainties, which is not a very good idea when you're in my line of work.&" -The Word Magazine, "A book pondering the aesthetics of C&éline risks going wrongin about 3,000 different ways...Instead, this book goes very deeply right." --New York Magazine, "The 33 1/3 of pocket books ... are superb little volumes devoted to classic albums. What unites them is not so much their subject as the standard of the writing and imagination that the authors have brought to their task... every one I've read has been well worth the attention. Wilson's approach to Celine Dione, however, stands out ... Clever and witty." Keith Bruce, The Herald (Glasgow), Saturday 8th March 2008., "Let's Talk About Love is a rigorous, perceptive andvery funny meditation on what happens when you realize that there's more tolife than being hip, and begin to grapple with just what that "more"might be." --MontrealGazette, "Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste offersa rare combination of compelling research and enormously entertaining writing,a real find for students of popular culture. It's a compact little volumepacked with keen insights into the ideologies that have shaped music criticismand scholarship, thought-provoking commentary on problems of aesthetics, andsensitive reflexive analysis. That reflexivity, along with a carefulbalance of critical theory and field research, makes this work particularlyappropriate for courses with an ethnomusicological angle. And asethnomusicologists continue to cultivate a growing sub-field in popular musicstudies, Let's Talk About Love is a timely and valuable resource." -Katherine Meizel, Lecturer in Ethnomusicology,University of California, Santa Barbara st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }, "Blending pop culture, cultural history, music criticism with Wilson's eclectic sensibility, the book is a fascinating look at how highbrow, middlebrow and nobrow rub meaningful observations along the way, moving on to the next without ever belabouring a point. The book is clever without the writer himself ever coming across as trying to be clever...It's like having an interesting conversation with a friend whose opinions you respect." Toronto Star Online, November 2009, "An important study- not just of Dion and pop music but also of the changing nature of criticism in the popular realm." --Andy Battaglia, Bookforum, "Music criticism is often just guy-world. Wilson'sthe real thing. I can't praise thissmall book enough. Smart, but humane." --HeatherMallick, CBC News: Analysis and Viewpoint, &"A book pondering the aesthetics of Celine risks going wrongin about 3,000 different ways...Instead, this book goes very deeply right." New York Magazine, "Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste offersa rare combination of compelling research and enormously entertaining writing,a real find for students of popular culture. It's a compact little volumepacked with keen insights into the ideologies that have shaped music criticismand scholarship, thought-provoking commentary on problems of aesthetics, andsensitive reflexive analysis. That reflexivity, along with a carefulbalance of critical theory and field research, makes this work particularlyappropriate for courses with an ethnomusicological angle. And asethnomusicologists continue to cultivate a growing sub-field in popular musicstudies, Let's Talk About Love is a timely and valuable resource." -Katherine Meizel, Lecturer in Ethnomusicology,University of California, Santa Barbara, &"This book seriously explores the wide divide between mainstream pop that is mass-marketed and purchased, and the critics who usually sneer at it for those very reasons. It's a heady work that examines everything from 'reductive Marxist theories of culture' to why critics value restrained singing while 'American Idol' fans embrace 'show-offy' technical power.&" -Las Vegas Review Journal, "It's said there's no accounting for taste, but Canadianmusic critic Carl Wilson certainly makes a Herculean effort in this latestentry in Continuum's 33 1/3 series...En route, Wilson finds plenty of fellowdetractors, generously hashes out a lengthy definition of "schmaltz," and dragsElliott Smith, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Clement Greenberg, Pierre Bourdieu,and a gaggle of shameless starry-eyed Dion fanatics into his intellectual andaesthetic morass." Baltimore City Paper, &"Let's Talk About Love is a rigorous, perceptive andvery funny meditation on what happens when you realize that there's more tolife than being hip, and begin to grapple with just what that &"more&"might be.&" --MontrealGazette, "The book [is] an engaging and intelligent study of taste and critiism framed by Celine Dion's tragic music." EyeWeekly, 24 February 2009, "'Morally you could fairly ask, Wilson writes, 'what is more laudable about excess in the name of rage and resentment than immoderation in thrall to love and connection?' That is, indeed, a fair and moral question, and it leads Wilson to wonder 'if anyone's tastes stand on solid ground, starting with mine.' He doesn't reach any definite conclusions, but the conversation he carries on through the centuries with everyone from philosophers David Hume and Immanuel Kant to sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, is by turns enlightening, provocative and unexpectedly moving. Wilson aptly calls Let's Talk About Love 'an experiment in taste,' and maybe as much as anything else, the book argues that such an experiment is one we'd all do well to conduct." â€� No Depression, "Music criticism is often just guy-world. Wilson'sthe real thing. I can't praise thissmall book enough. Smart, but humane." HeatherMallick, CBC News: Analysis and Viewpoint, "Let's Talk" about one of the most interesting music books you'll read this year...The always critical and erudite Mr. Wilson actually approached Let's Talk About Love as a non-fan grappling with questions of "good" and "bad" taste... It's almost certainly the only installment in the series to discussFrench-Canadian race relations, rockism, and Milan Kundera's thoughtson kitsch." --Idolator.com, "I teach in a university drama programme and I plan tointegrate the book into our first-year Critical Theories course as a way tointroduce students to principles of aesthetics, and to the discourse aroundpop/high culture. It's difficult to make Kantian aesthetics accessible to 18year olds. Let's Talk About Love is arare instance of the transmission of complex and sophisticated ideas inlanguage that is accessible without being dumbed-down." -Karen Fricker, Lecturer in Contemporary Theatre, Royal Holloway, University of London, "Wilsonuses Dion's record as a crowbar, and pries open the assumptions and prejudiceswhich shape our tastes in the first place. Despite our preconceptions surrounding Wilson's ostensible subject (or perhaps,because of them), the results are subtle, and startling enough to give the mostjaded of readers pause." Flavorpill NYC, "A wide-ranging book, one predicated on the possibility that what repels us may say more about us than what attracts us...[an] insightful, engaging, and unexpectedly moving book." -Jason Anderson, The Globe and Mail, "Wilsonuses Dion's record as a crowbar, and pries open the assumptions and prejudiceswhich shape our tastes in the first place. Despite our preconceptions surrounding Wilson's ostensible subject (or perhaps,because of them), the results are subtle, and startling enough to give the mostjaded of readers pause." --Flavorpill NYC
