Author(s): Alex Ross

Music

"Winner of the 2007 National Book Critics Circle ""Award for Criticism ""A "New York Times Book Review "Top Ten Book of the Year "Time "magazine Top Ten Nonfiction Book of 2007 "Los Angeles Times "Favorite Book of 2007 "In this sweeping and dramatic narrative, Alex Ross weaves together the histories of the twentieth century and its music, from Vienna before the First World War to Paris in the twenties, from Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia to downtown New York in the sixties and seventies. "The Rest Is Noise "is an astonishing history of the twentieth century as told through its music. Review Quotes: " A rare and successful weaving together of musical and cultural history, at once sweeping and accessible, written felicitously by a seasoned music critic at home in the history of the last century. An enticing and bold invitation to learn something of the great themes of the past century." -- Fritz Stern, author of "Five Germanys I Have Known" " With every page you turn, the story departs further from the old fairy tale of giants bestriding the earth and looks more like the twentieth century we remember, with fallible human beings reacting to, reflecting, and affecting with symbolic sounds a flux of conditions and events created by other fallible human beings. And turn the pages you do. A remarkable achievement." -- Richard Taruskin, author of the "Oxford History of Western Music" Review Quotes: " You don't have to be an aficionado of modern music to love this book: Alex Ross' s extraordinary gifts as a writer, his deep knowledge of music, and his fresh forays into cultural history make "The Rest is Noise" a complete delight." -- Jean Strouse, author of "Morgan: American Financier" " "The Rest Is Noise" reads like a sprawling, intense novel, one of utopian dreams, doom, and consolation, with the most extraordinary cast of characters from music and history alike. A great, inspiring ride." -- Osvaldo Golijov " In words that are beautiful, passionate, witty, and utterly compelling, Alex Ross has written a true rarity-- a book about music that makes you want to run and listen to every note he talks about." -- Emanuel Ax " A rare and successful weaving together of musical and cultural history, at once sweeping and accessible, written felicitously by a seasoned music critic at home in the history of the last century. An enticing and bold invitation to learn something of the great themes of the past century." -- Fritz Stern, author of "Five Germanys I Have Known" " Alex Ross has produced an introduction to twentieth-century music that is also an absorbing story of personalities and events that is also a history of modern cultural forms and styles that is also a study of social, political, and technological change . The Rest Is Noise is cultural history the way cultural history should be written: a single strong narrative operating on many levels at once. What more do you want from a book? That it be intelligently, artfully, and lucidly written? It ' s those things, too. " & nbsp; & nbsp; -- Louis Menand, author of The Metaphysical Club " You don't have to be an aficionado of modern music to love this book: & nbsp; Alex Ross ' s extraordinary gifts as a writer, his deep knowledge of music, and his fresh forays into cultural history make& nbsp; The Rest is Noise a complete delight. " & nbsp; & nbsp; -- Jean Strouse, author of Morgan: American Financier " In words that are beautiful, passionate, witty, and utterly compelling, Alex Ross has written a true rarity -- a book about music that makes you want to run and listen to every note he talks about. " & nbsp; & nbsp; -- EmanuelAx & nbsp; " A rare and successful weaving together of musical and cultural history, at once sweeping and accessible, written felicitously by a seasoned music critic at home in the history of the last century. An enticing and bold invitation to learn something of the great themes of the past century. " & nbsp; & nbsp; -- Fritz Stern, author of Five Germanys I Have Known .."[T]his is no plodding hisotry. With his typically lyrical and attentive style, the author presents a lucid, often gripping story of a complex history. A must-read for those who have struggled with understanding modern music and a benchmark book that should eventually become a classic history of the 20th century." --"Kirkus Reviews" (starred reveiw) "There seems always to have been a 'crisis of modern music, ' but by some insane miracle one person finds the way out. The impossibility of it gives me hope. Fast-forwarding through so many music-makers' creative highs and lows in the company of Alex Ross's incredibly nourishing book will rekindle anyone's fire for music." --Bjork "Alex Ross has produced an introduction to twentieth-century music that is also an absorbing story of personalities and events that is also a history of modern cultural forms and styles that is also a study of social, political, and technological change". The Rest Is Noise" is cultural history the way cultural history should be written: a single strong narrative operating on many levels at once. What more do you want from a book? That it be intelligently, artfully, and lucidly written? It's those things, too." --Louis Menand, author of "The Metaphysical Club First published 2007.