There are a lot of good books around. People don’t read any more. It’s a sad state of affairs. Reading’s the only thing that allows you to use your imagination. When you watch films it’s someone else’s vision, isn’t it?
Lemmy Kilmister
Good old Lemmy was right (as always): reading is the only thing that allows you to use your imagination. And if you’re a copywriter, you work with social media and you deal with marketing, you need imagination. Better then keep her trained, and summer is the best time to do it. The rhythms slow down, some customers close for holidays, a few days of vacation we allow ourselves, and here comes the right opportunity to devote themselves to some good reading. And in fact the list of summer readings is a great classic all over the world, from the small blog to the great magazines. So here I am, delighting you about my summer readings, which include not only books, but also magazines and podcasts. I don’t do it just because I think that some ideas can always be useful, I do it also because I think it can serve to say something about me, to tell a little about who I am. And knowing who I am will help you understand if I’m the right person to collaborate with.
Credere, disobbedire, combattere – Marco Cappato
I start by going in heavy with what could potentially be the most controversial reading of the entire list. And also the most misunderstood, since the presentation of the book reads like this: “You do not change the world, and you do not defend democracy, always doing what they tell you to do. We must take responsibility for contravening unjust laws without waiting for someone to kindly grant it.”
Now, given the period in which we are, such a presentation could be easily misunderstood and declined, applied to modern pandemic times. This is not the case. Suffice it to say that Cappato himself already in unsuspected times (2018) cited in his post on Facebook (still recoverable) Luca Simonetti, for whom the charlatan, “is a character who […] he always presents himself as the bearer of a secret: a discovery […] that refuses […] to submit to the examination and control” of the scientific community. The disobedience of which Marco Cappato is the bearer is non-violent, secular, based on science, ethical, responsible, with the aim of producing benefits for society.
This is not a light reading. But it is a necessary reading. By the way, do you know that throughout the summer it is possible to sign for the Legal Euthanasia Referendum? I find it a battle of civilizations and I put my signature on it. Here all the information (it is now enabled the digital signature, you can sign even without moving from home, so zero excuses): referendum.eutanasialegale.it
It Gets Me Home, This Curving Track – Ian Penman
The “curving track” of the title (refined quote by W.H. Auden) is the groove of a record. It tells in an incomparable way the human and artistic trajectory of James Brown, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Prince and Charlie Parker himself, and addresses, through figures such as Donald Fagen of Steely Dan and John Fahey, some junctions of popular culture between the twentieth century and today as the mod culture and the hipster phenomenon. Between one essay and another, Penman writes, “there could be a network of clues, advice and half-hidden suggestions that creeps between the lines or behind them and just waits to be found, while the other common thread is a tense dialectic between the disorder and sometimes the despair of the private life of the artists we are talking about and elegance, the almost supernatural economy of their songs…”. So, page after page, the road, or track, of Auden’s title and verses leads to ourselves, to that place where we really exist that sometimes, or maybe always, is music.
F*ck Being Humble, Why Self-Promotion isn’t a Dirty Word – Stefanie Sword-Williams
A book that is perfect for all those who, when there is to promote themselves and to show their successes, feel uncomfortable or take a step back. In addition to the book, there is also a large website with a blog, courses, tips and resources: www.fuckbeinghumble.com
Alice Cooper’s Vintage Vault – Podcast
The podcasts are from 2020 but, waiting for the good Alice to decide to update the series by adding new stories, listening to him tell about his meetings with great characters of music and entertainment (such as Paul McCartney, Ozzy Osbourne, Chris Cornell and Gene Simmons), interspersed with clips of interviews, is always a pleasure.
Hacking creativity – Podcast
The podcast for those who work with creativity and are looking for new ways to produce ideas. Particularly beautiful is the episode with Paolo Iabichino “La pubblicità da qui al 2050 con Paolo Iabichino“, something to listen again and again.
Magazines: Rolling Stone, Rockit and Rockol
When the work rhythm becomes hectic and you have to press the accellerator, even allowing yourself to read a magazine becomes more difficult. For this reason, summer is my favorite time to do indigestion of readings of all kinds, including magazines. I enjoy the “Gonzo” section of Rolling Stone (and a fan of Lester Bangs like me can only be delighted by the presence of a section dedicated to Gonzo Journalism) that offers funny articles like “Una cosa divertente che non farò mai più (a meno che non sia gratis, e da super ricca)“, and I appreciate the always lucid analysis on the society and the musical panorama of Simone Stefanini on Rockit. This week the article to read in my opinion is this: “Un Paese di musichette mentre fuori c’è la morte“. I report only an extract, with the recommendation to go and read it all: “We all know the week of August in Italy, every year she replicates herself in a ritual made of disengagement, loss of memory and home address. More than a year and a half of pandemic that is not even coming to an end has beaten hard in the lives and in the head of all the inhabitants of the planet Earth and for a week or two, everyone is trying to live a different life. The artists play in the squares and concert venues for a small audience of people who the law prevents from getting up from the chairs to dance and meanwhile the bathing establishments, the tourist cities and the villages are besieged by hordes of tourists piled up everywhere.”
And then of course there’s Rockol, which I read for work and pleasure. I especially loved theinterview to “I Hate My Village” (it starts like this: “After the blood and the ferocity, comes an electrical freedom. From the narrow and narrow spaces, we continue towards long expanses in which to lose body, mind, control.”), the article dedicatd to Fast Animals and Slow Kids live (“This stuff has happened in recent years: the world has exploded. At one point we were faced with a crossroads, which was as follows: ‘What are we doing? If we want to go back to playing, we have to play in front of someone who’s sitting, and rock’n’roll sitting is like the essay of middle school with mom applauding you.’ And we didn’t want to do it, so we wondered what we could give and tell. We said that we can tell what has happened in the last ten years of music, because this band has been playing for 10 years”, explains Aimone Romizi on the sidelines of the concert, who during the first Show in Milan gives proof of his interpretative skills, giving emphasis and character to the songs of the Fast Animals and Slow Kids with his voice, even without the support of heavy guitars, straight case and rough riff.) and the article dedicated to Patti Smith live in Alba, at Collisioni Festival (here’s an excerpt: “She is one of the few overseas artists on tour in Italy this summer: we saw her in Alba: we were moved, and we danced, not barefoot but spaced out. It was liberating anyway.” I was there too, in the front row, and yes: I was moved too.)
This is my small selection of nice things to read and listen to this summer, enjoying even for a few days the slow pace of mid-August.
