FAITHFULL RETURNS: 2005 is going to be a banner year for both music and literature. I've already raved about Kate Bush returning after a 12 year hiatus, but later this month the great Marianne Faithfull will release Before the Poison. Faithfull is one of my musical heroes. I have every album (some still on vinyl) and there's an autographed photo she sent me in the living room of my loft. The new album has her collaborating with PJ Harvey and Nick Cave...should be brilliant stuff. The album is already out in the UK and has received glowing reviews, comparing it to her masterpiece Broken English.
I also found out today that both John Irving and Michael Cunningham will release new novels this summer. Irving's is called Until I Find You and sounds like it plumbs some of the same themes from A Widow For One Year, which is one of his best books ever. Cunningham has taken his sweet time following up The Hours, but Specimen Days should be worth the wait. A couple of years ago, Cunningham mentioned in an interview that his new novel whould have Walt Whitman narrating, and sure enough, it comes to fruition here.
Also, Jeannette Winterson's new novel Lighthousekeeping will finally be out in America. I read it last year after having it shipped over from the UK. It's fabulous of course.
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-D.