I think it should be "James'" or "James's" depending on pronunciation. Everybody else is right about the apostrophe after "son," unless you mean some James belonging to McMurtry's son, which you don't.
Y'know, it occurs to me that Solomon's approach to interviewing is not unlike the Wolfson/Weiner approach to commenting (I'm not sure whether adding my name there is hubris or humility). Like, if these interviews were done in print, you know Solomon would be busting the newbies for omitting the quotation marks.
I'm a fan of the Solomon interviews, but not because the subjects always come off looking good. It's more that she's able to communicate the absurdity behind others' positions, or behind their celebrity in general, in interesting ways.
If James is Larry's son, and you want to render James into a possessive pronoun modifying "first album," it would be "Larry's son James's first album."
Either 3 or 4 is correct; I don't understand what's supposed to be confusing here, I'm afraid. There's absolutely no reason to make "son" a possessive in this case (although if "James" were removed, "son" would need to replace it as the possessive of "first album)..
I'd have said that there is quite probably one apostrophe too many but I shall leave this to the pro's amongst you.
Posted by Austro | Link to this comment | 05-30-05 2:57 AM
It's a cultural thing, I think. I've seen Persian writing, and they use lots of apostrophes. Too many, I would say.
Posted by John Emerson | Link to this comment | 05-30-05 5:21 AM
Larry's son James's first album.
Posted by Jon Moyer | Link to this comment | 05-30-05 7:08 AM
Larry's son James' first album
Posted by lawrence Rocke | Link to this comment | 05-30-05 7:32 AM
You said "who's a national treasure". We're allowed to have more than one, aren't we?
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 05-30-05 7:52 AM
James's, by blow of Larry's alcoholic years, first album.
Posted by SomeCallMeTim | Link to this comment | 05-30-05 7:55 AM
I love this place. Can't stop clickin' back to read what's next. Thanks ogged. Are you really all one person?
Posted by Veta | Link to this comment | 05-30-05 8:54 AM
O no, we've come undone.
Posted by Racked | Link to this comment | 05-30-05 8:57 AM
I think it should be "James'" or "James's" depending on pronunciation. Everybody else is right about the apostrophe after "son," unless you mean some James belonging to McMurtry's son, which you don't.
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 05-30-05 9:03 AM
Y'know, it occurs to me that Solomon's approach to interviewing is not unlike the Wolfson/Weiner approach to commenting (I'm not sure whether adding my name there is hubris or humility). Like, if these interviews were done in print, you know Solomon would be busting the newbies for omitting the quotation marks.
Posted by Anonymous | Link to this comment | 05-30-05 9:05 AM
whoops, me.
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 05-30-05 9:05 AM
It's funny, I liked McMurtry better after I read the interview. He seemed to handle Solomon about right.
Posted by John Emerson | Link to this comment | 05-30-05 11:42 AM
I'm a fan of the Solomon interviews, but not because the subjects always come off looking good. It's more that she's able to communicate the absurdity behind others' positions, or behind their celebrity in general, in interesting ways.
Posted by washerdreyer | Link to this comment | 05-30-05 12:21 PM
If James is Larry's son, and you want to render James into a possessive pronoun modifying "first album," it would be "Larry's son James's first album."
Posted by maha | Link to this comment | 05-30-05 1:03 PM
BTW, It's James's and not James' according to Strunk & White, The Elements of Style.
Posted by maha | Link to this comment | 05-30-05 1:05 PM
Or you could restate it as 'The first album by Larry's son James is really good'.
Posted by DominEditrix | Link to this comment | 05-30-05 2:55 PM
Either 3 or 4 is correct; I don't understand what's supposed to be confusing here, I'm afraid. There's absolutely no reason to make "son" a possessive in this case (although if "James" were removed, "son" would need to replace it as the possessive of "first album)..
Posted by Gary Farber | Link to this comment | 05-31-05 9:25 AM