Amazon.com ReviewAnyone who has ever gamely tried and failed to absorb, enjoy, and--especially--understand the complex works of Schoenberg, Mahler, Strauss, or even Philip Glass will allow themselves a wry smile reading New Yorker music critic Alex Ross's outstanding The Rest Is Noise. Not only does Ross manage to give historical, biographical, and social context to 20th-century pieces both major and minor, he brings the scores alive in language that's accessible and dramatic.Take Ross's description of Schoenberg's Second Quartet, "in which he hesitates at a crossroads, contemplating various paths forming in front of him. The first movement, written the previous year, still uses a fairly conventional late-Romantic language. The second movement, by contrast, is a hallucinatory Scherzo, unlike any other music at the time. It contains fragments of the folk song 'Ach, du lieber Augustin'--the same tune that held Freudian significance for Mahler. For Schoenberg, the song seems to represent a bygone world disintegrating; the crucial line is 'Alles ist hin' (all is lost). The movement ends in a fearsome sequence of four-note figures, which are made up of fourths separated by a tritone. In them may be discerned traces of the bifurcated scale that begins Salome. But there is no longer a sense of tonalities colliding. Instead, the very concept of a chord is dissolving into a matrix of intervals."Armed with such a detailed aural roadmap, even a troglodyte--or a heavy metal fan--can explore these pivotal works anew. But it's not all crashing cymbals, honking tubas, and somber Germans stroking their chins. Ross also presents the human dramas (affairs, wars, etc.) behind these sweeping compositions while managing, against the odds, to discuss C-major triads, pentatonic scales, and B-flat dominant sevenths without making our eyes glaze over. And he draws a direct link between the Beatles and Sibelius. It's no surprise that the New York Times named The Rest Is Noise one of the 10 Best Books of 2007. Music nerds have found their most articulate valedictorian. --Kim HughesFrom Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. Ross, the classical music critic for the New Yorker, leads a whirlwind tour from the Viennese premiere of Richard Strauss's Salome in 1906 to minimalist Steve Reich's downtown Manhattan apartment. The wide-ranging historical material is organized in thematic essays grounded in personalities and places, in a disarmingly comprehensive style reminiscent of historian Otto Friedrich. Thus, composers who led dramatic lives—such as Shostakovich's struggles under the Soviet regime—make for gripping reading, but Ross treats each composer with equal gravitas. The real strength of this study, however, lies in his detailed musical analysis, teasing out—in precise but readily accessible language—the notes that link Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story to Arnold Schoenberg's avant-garde compositions or hint at a connection between Sibelius and John Coltrane. Among the many notable passages, a close reading of Benjamin Britten's opera Peter Grimes stands out for its masterful blend of artistic and biographical insight. Readers new to classical music will quickly seek out the recordings Ross recommends, especially the works by less prominent composers, and even avid fans will find themselves hearing familiar favorites with new ears. (Oct.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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We live in a culture of casual certitude. This has always been the case, no matter how often that certainty has failed. Though no generation believes there's nothing left to learn, every generation unconsciously assumes that what has already been defined and accepted is (probably) pretty close to how reality will be viewed in perpetuity. And then, of course, time passes. Ideas shift. Opinions invert. What once seemed reasonable eventually becomes absurd, replaced by modern perspectives that feel even more irrefutable and secure—until, of course, they don't. But What If We're Wrong? visualizes the contemporary world as it will appear to those who will conceive of it as the distant past. Chuck Klosterman asks questions that are profound in their simplicity: How certain are we about our understanding of gravity? How certain are we about our understanding of time? What will be the defining memory of rock music, five hundred years from today? How seriously should... Views: 15
Love may be the toughest battle of all Captain Bennett Oscar SheratonNavy SEAL, the best of the bestDr. Kimberly Warren Brilliant engineer, founder of secret space programWhen scientists on Dr. Warren's super-secret space mission start dying, Navy SEAL Captain Sheraton is sent in as an astronaut candidate with a hidden agenda-find the person sabotaging the program.Kimberly and Bennett's instant attraction may prove to be a major distraction-or it might be the key to both of their dreams coming true...West Coast Navy SEALs Series: A SEAL at Heart (Book 1) Once a SEAL (Book 2) A SEAL Forever (Book 3) The Soul of a SEAL (Book 4)Praise for Anne Elizabeth: "Anne Elizabeth writes Navy SEALs from the heart-action-packed, intense and sexy." -#1 New York Times bestseller Christine Feehan for Once a SEAL"Sexy romance and super-hot concept." -RT Book Reviews, 4... Views: 15
“Brooks [is] America’s most prominent maven on the living dead…Gripping reading.” —Hartford Courant This collection, available exclusively as an ebook, brings together two New York Times bestselling titles from Max Brooks: The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z. Fully illustrated and exhaustively comprehensive, The Zombie Survival Guide is the key to survival against the hordes of undead who may be stalking you right now. In World War Z, Brooks delivers an invaluable chronicle of the Zombie War, told in the haunting and riveting voices of the men and women who witnessed the horror firsthand.About the AuthorThe New York Times bestselling author of The Zombie Survival Guide, World War Z, and The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks, MAX BROOKS has been called "the Studs Terkel of zombie journalism." Views: 15
The six stories in Outside show Barry Lopez's majestic talent as a fiction writer. Lopez writes in spare prose, but his narratives resonate with an uncanny power. With a reverence for our exterior and interior landscapes, these stories offer profound insight into the relationships between humans and animals, creativity and beauty, and ultimately, life and death.In Desert Notes," the narrator says, All my life I have wanted to trick blood from a rock." The story proceeds to instruct the visitor on how to experience the desert but continues like no ordinary field guide. At stake here is what is at the furthest edge of our grasp. You will think you have hold of the idea when you have only the hold of its clothing." Rattlesnakes, the shell of a beetle, a few twigs, silence—out of these spare elements Lopez conjures a realm that shimmers with an elusive but palpable presence.The Search for the Heron" and Within Birds' Hearing"... Views: 15
The incredible story of Tom Brady and the Patriots' tumultuous 2016 season: from national disgrace to the greatest Super Bowl comeback of all time. In January 2015, rumors circulated that the New England Patriots—a team long suspected of abiding by the "if you ain't cheating you ain't trying" philosophy—had used under-inflated footballs in their playoff victory against the Indianapolis Colts. As evidence began to build, however, a full on NFL investigation was launched, exploding an unsubstantiated rumor into an intense scandal that would lead news coverage for weeks. As shockwaves rippled throughout the NFL system, the very legitimacy of one of the league's most popular teams and their star quarterback began to erode, even as the Patriots and Brady went on to win that year's Super Bowl. But as the celebrations gave way to the offseason, the investigation only intensified, reopening old wounds between the Patriots' powerful owner, Robert Kraft,... Views: 15
Susan Pulaski loves Las Vegas, she is the perfect fit for the city and for her job: unraveling the minds of deviant personalities- until a killer begins decorating Sin City with the horribly disfigured bodies of once beautiful young wom en. White- knuckling her way to the center of the case, Pulaski becomes the key player in a desperate hunt for a killer who believes he has found divine inspiration in the works of Edgar Allan Poe. But even with the assistance of Darcy O'Bannon, a twenty-five-year-old autistic savant astonishing skills, Pulaski is in more danger than she knows. Bernhardt is the author of "Primary Justice" and "Murder One". Views: 15
In Earth Magic, Alexei and Cory Panshin (Hugo winning authors of The World Beyond the Hill) create a mysterious world of shifting realities, arcane traditions and memorable characters. Haldane, son of the Get warlord Black Morca must flee for his life through a familiar landscape turned strangely alien, aided by a wizard of uncertain abilities and the hazardous favor of the Goddess Libera. His perilous journey will take him to a final battle amidst the standing stones of power of Stone Heath where he will discover his true destiny. An exciting, thought provoking tale by critically acclaimed and award winning masters of the genre.** Views: 15
Michael Pollan’s unmatched ability to draw lines of connection between our everyday experiences— whether eating, gardening, or building—and the natural world has been the basis for the popular success of his many works of nonfiction, including the genre-defining bestsellers The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food. With this updated edition of his earlier book A Place of My Own, readers can revisit the inspired, intelligent, and often hilarious story of Pollan’s realization of a room of his own—a small, wooden hut, his "shelter for daydreams"—built with his admittedly unhandy hands. Inspired by both Thoreau and Mr. Blandings, A Place of My Own not only works to convey the history and meaning of all human building, it also marks the connections between our bodies, our minds, and the natural world. Views: 15
