When Surface was Depth: Death by Cappuccino and Other Reflections on Music and Culture in the 1990's (2002)

WHEN SURFACE WAS DEPTH: DEATH BY CAPPUCCINO AND OTHER REFLECTIONS ON MUSIC AND CULTURE IN THE 1990'S Michael Bracewell (Da Capo, $17) Bracewell's collection of essays has about as much to do with cappuccino, music, and the 1990s as Star Wars has to do with Jedis, fencing, and the galaxy -- sure, they're in there, but they're hardly the point. Culture is the key word here as the Brit intellectual uses a postmodern lens to magnify the bourgeoisie's destruction of art and pop culture's obsession with the past. He's at his best when he stops ruminating on Flaubert and McLuhan long enough to talk to people who are still alive: His discussions with and discursions on Malcolm McDowell, Quentin Crisp, and the Hansons are beacons of thoughtful exposition in a sea of mental mastication.