内容摘要：An interior view of Villa 31 where the late communist dictator Enver Hoxha, once a symbol of totalitarian rule used to live, in Tirana, Albania, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

An interior view of Villa 31 where the late communist dictator Enver Hoxha, once a symbol of totalitarian rule used to live, in Tirana, Albania, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

James has fun with the topic, describing what makes the axe the perfect weapon in each instance, keeping the true crime fan in me thoroughly engaged.A book such as this, focused on history and facts, could become tedious to a casual reader, but James knows how to disarm readers with properly timed humor and quippy theories.

True crime fan or not, James’ book is a great primer of “axe murder” in all its shapes and formsIan Leslie’s “John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs,” takes a detailed look — 426 pages — at howworked together from their meeting as teenagers until John’s death.

Had McCartney not decided at age 15 to go hear Lennon’s band playing in a Liverpool suburb, the world would have been denied the multitude of Beatle songs that brightened a generation and brought escalating musical innovation to rock music.As Leslie affirms in the book, Lennon and McCartney early on developed a personal and creative chemistry that allowed them to elevate each other’s work to the timeless song classics still heard around the world.

And into that relationship dives Leslie, analyzing the mountain of articles and books written about

and interpreting messages the two men were sending to each other in their solo songs, particularly after the band’s break-up when both were writing and performing as solo acts.Because there are not many existing garments worn or created by Black Americans before the latter part of the 19th century, Miller said, the early part of the show fills out the story with objects like paintings, prints, some decorative arts, film and photography.

Among the novelty items: The “respectability” section includes civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois’ receipts for laundry and tailoring. “He’d go to Paris and London, he would visit tailors and have suits made there,” she said.And the “jook” section includes a film clip of the tap-dancing Nicholas Brothers — who in 1943’s “Stormy Weather” produced one of the most astounding dance numbers ever to appear on film.

“We wanted to show people moving in the clothes,” Miller explained. “A fashion exhibit is frustrating because you don’t see people in the clothes.”Miller wondered aloud whether there might be a stretch material in the pair’s tuxedos (they perform multiple splits coming down a staircase). She also noted that the tuxedo, like the suit in general, is a garment that cuts across social categories. “If you are at a formal event the people serving are also in tuxedos, and sometimes the entertainment is in tuxedos, too,” she said.