Listen To This: Alex Ross's New Book

Listen To This, the new book by Alex Ross -- coming after the monster success of The Rest Is Noise -- will be fed by Farrar, Straus and Giroux to our hungry maws at the end of September.

Maestro Ross explains:

The new book is a panoramic tour of the musical world, touching variously on Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Verdi, Brahms, Marian Anderson, Frank Sinatra, Cecil Taylor, Led Zeppelin, Björk, Radiohead, Mitsuko Uchida, Esa-Pekka Salonen, John Luther Adams, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Bob Dylan, and the Malcolm X Shabazz High School Marching Band. In the Preface, I say that the aim is to "approach music not as a self-sufficient sphere but as a way of knowing the world." The book includes material already published in The New Yorker as well as pieces written or heavily revised for the occasion.

Comments

[Blue Byrd]

Sounds (looks?) exciting.

I have to admit that my very first response to this post was a vague sense of smugness about actually being familiar with some of John Luther Adams' work.

[Miguel de Moura]

Great news. I enjoyed the first book, a preference when listening to XX century classic music.
I am also a regular visitor of his new blog. " Unquiet Thoughts " , from the New Yorker.

[Jim Lochner]

Love the first book. Can't wait for this one!

[Francesca]

Happy happy, happy news!

[Warren]

Pretty much ditto Jim's comment. I loved 'The Rest is Noise', brilliant book. Look forward to Alex Ross's latest offering. Very few can take an art form and weave it into the broader tableau of culture and society like he can, he really sees the larger implications of music and the big picture (but is also great with the details).