Review

[Kristen Immoor <kimmoor@mindspring.com>]

>As I read his account of the section of the book that he found
>unsatisfactory, I was reminded of Elizabeth Wilson's Shostakovich - A
>Life Remembered. This book too has flaws in the direction of poor
>editorial control. There are areas of the book that are inconsistent
>with other sections and some parts that seem to be outrageously
>untruthful. Can any readers of the Ostwald book see recollections
>that seem suspicious in either of these two ways?

    I take issue with the "middle section" as well. I don't doubt the
truthfulness of Ostwald's accounts, per se, but I do take issue with many
of the accounts and interviews he incorporates verbatim from previous
biographies. There are many of those accounts whose authenticity I consider
suspect (I won't taint anyone's opinions with my suspicions,) and I think
that Ostwald presents these quotes in such a way that, to the unfamiliar
reader, they look like first-hand interviews he collected himself. (Having
the footnotes compiled in the back of the book exacerbates this, as there
is no immediate way to tell which information is fresh until you flip to
the endnotes. Very annoying.) I think I may have mentioned this briefly
right after I finished the book.
    I wish that Ostwald, rather than re-printing the original "soundbite,"
would have gone back to the original source of the information (if that
person is still alive, that is) and asked them to re-examine what they had
said in the original biography. That, to my mind, would have been
infinitely more interesting. Sort of a "Well, in 1987 you said *this* about
your relationship with Glenn. Do you still feel this way? Has your
perspective changed? How do you feel now about what happened then, and what
do you think about what you had originally told <previous author>." That
type of thing. I can't help but think that some of the people quoted
frequently in Otto Friedrich's L&V - a book which was for obvious reasons
heavily referenced by Ostwald, wouldn't expand upon or re-evaluate their
original statements were they given a chance to speak to an author whose
interrogation skills were more graceful than Friedrich's were.

Just my $.02
Kristen

______________________________________________________________________________

"There must be room for mess, for vulgarity. Sometimes, we have to touch
people."

                                  -- Bruce Charlton, writing as Glenn Gould