Born in Flames

From Publishers Weekly

It's fitting to find a tribute to Lester Bangs halfway through this collection of film and music reviews, as Hampton appears to be a qualified successor to Bangs in the realm of pop cultural criticism. In these essays, written for alternative newspapers and art magazines, Hampton charts a freewheeling path through Hong Kong cinema, riot grrl albums and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. That last show is something of a touchstone for Hampton: in one essay, he links it to Nirvana as part of the same cultural moment; in another, he views the series through the prism of D.H. Lawrence. The book is filled with similarly unlikely pairings that wind up making perfect sense, from the connections between Dennis Potter and punk rock to a revelatory description of Meat Loaf as a B-movie version of Bruce Springsteen. And when something offends Hampton's sensibilities, watch out. Pans of Forrest Gump and the "perfumed gunk" of Sting cut with a scathing fury. For the most part, though, Hampton chooses to devote his energies to music and movies he loves—and no matter how eclectic your tastes, there's bound to be at least one artist in this collection he'll make you want to track down. (Jan.)