RSSXgau Sez
These are questions submitted by readers, and answered by Robert Christgau. New ones will appear in batches every third Tuesday.
To ask your own question, please use this form.
October 04, 2026
Free literature, the sound of New Orleans, the history of 'The Village Voice,' eyes on the prizes, the soft power of Lewis Capaldi, Fran Lebowitz, and R&B Jesus.
[Q] Hey Bob! Does Carola have any plans for another science fiction novel? -- Pierre Fleutot, Brussels, Belgium
[A]
Carola's been working on a memoir, though if you'd like to read more
of her fiction, you can find several short stories and the novella
[Real Piece of Work]
on her website. For free. So
what are you waiting for?
[Q] I love the three-volume LP set of History of New Orleans Rhythm and Blues that Rhino released in 1987 that you named the top reissue of that year. Are you aware that Rhino released a 2-volume CD version of it a few years later? It's called The Best of New Orleans Rhythm and Blues Volumes 1 and 2 and it contains a good portion (but not all) of the songs from the LPs plus some other stuff. Ever hear those CDs? The track listing is available on discogs. I'm curious if you think those CDs are worth seeking out. -- Tom Brooks, Portland, Oregon
[A]
I've long since come to prefer CDs, not just because they're more
physically compact but because they're relatively easy to program. But
I don't keep track of CD/LP overlaps—though for what it's worth,
in 2003 I called this
two-CD New Orleans set compiled
by Charlie Gillett "easily
the finest available overview of the lost city's rock and roll
heritage."
[Q] Currently reading Going into the City, you say at the beginning of Bon Bon Vie "There presumably will be a Voice book sometime—by an academic, perhaps. I bet I don't like it." Since you've written that, The Freaks Came Out to Write: The Definitive History of the Village Voice, the Radical Paper That Changed American Culture has come out. Have you read it? Did you not like it? Also, Uncropped the documentary about Village Voice photographer James Hamilton came out, looking forward to watching it (as well as The Last Critic, whenever it becomes available). I searched but you don't mention James Hamilton in your book. Did you have any memorable interactions with him at all? Did you find photographs added much to your columns, articles, and essays, or just took up word space? Thanks for writing the book, currently the only thing keeping my interest through convalescence. It's nice on e-book because I can tap on and get definitions for the many, many words I don't know. -- Brandon, Canada
[A]
Tricia Romano's The Freaks
Came Out to Write is an anything-but-academic treatment of the
anything-but-academic Village Voice, and the oral history
format was a fitting approach for a paper that was built around the
voices of its writers. I like Tricia's book a lot and recommend it.
[Q] In the latter half of 2016, before Trump's disastrous election, the Swedish Academy announced Bob Dylan as the Nobel Prize in Literature, proving that singer-songwriters, once looked down upon by serious and orthodox European literary critics, could indeed be recorded in literary history. So, Bob, in your opinion, which other musicians with outstanding works can be compared to the most respected writers in literary history? -- Kari Koivula, Helsinki, Finland
[A]
Off the top of my head, I'd say my runner-up is
Chuck Berry, who did get a PEN
Award in 2012. And was I happy to see Kendrick Lamar get a Pulitzer
Prize?
Damn right I was. But Dylan's
Nobel and Lamar's Pulitzer seem like one-offs unlikely to be repeated,
and the greatness of these artists was already well established before
the respective high-culture doyens involved decided to make a point of
it.
[Q] What exactly is it about Lewis Capaldi that appeals to you? Thirty years ago, if you were to critique "power ballads" in the vein of Céline Dion or Michael Bolton, you would almost certainly have panned them—so why are you now so open to embracing Lewis Capaldi? -- Berker Ahiska, Frankfurt, Germany
[A]
I certainly think Capaldi is far better than Dion or Bolton—so
much humbler and subtler.
His vulnerability and humor make a difference.
[Q] I recently finished reading Fran Lebowitz's The Fran Lebowitz Reader and it occurred to me, having avidly consumed your writings for some years now, that you're both cultural commentators who were involved in that zeitgeist of NYC culture during the '70s and '80s while writing for renowned urban prints (and yet still living there as Manhattanites, if I'm not mistaken), more so authors who write in similarly witty, urbane, and liberal manners—there's undeniably an overlap between you both regarding social circles and personal values. Have you ever run into Lebowitz? Is there any friendship there? What do you think of her and of her works? -- Niccolo L
[A]
I like Lebowitz. We are casual acquaintances with quite a few mutual
friends. But she's more interested in celebrities and the wealthy than
I am.
[Q] Has D'Angelo's Voodoo become an A for you now? -- Renato Porelli, Rome, Italy
[A]
In a
review of a 2000 live show I
called D'Angelo "R&B Jesus," a sobriquet
quoted
a couple of places after his untimely death last year. I also said
that the concert made me a believer. After getting religion at that
show I went back to his
first album and found it longer
on sonics than songs, same as Voodoo. His sound was a world
unto itself, and he limned that world spiritually and socially, not
just sonically. But I don't have the inclination to reinvestigate the
grades I gave his albums, sorry as I am there won't be more of them.