What Is a Good Music Book to Read
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Accept you lot ever been asked, on a commencement appointment or by someone who is trying to bear a conversation with you, but can't, "Practise you similar music?" How do you answer that? "What kind of monster doesn't like music?" No? Too much? Makes sense. Much ameliorate to launch into a story about 1 of these 50 must-read books about music. Hither'southward the thing, though: anybody does like music! That's why we compiled this list of 50 must-read books near music. For ease of navigation, nosotros've classified them equally fiction and nonfiction, or Novels about Music, and Best Books about Music History and Non Fiction Books most Music.
Novels about music
1. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
"Rob is a pop music junkie who runs his own semi-failing record shop. His girlfriend, Laura, has just left him for the guy upstairs, and Rob is both miserable and relieved. After all, could he take spent his life with someone who has a bad record collection?"
2. Jazz past Toni Morrison
"In the winter of 1926, when everybody everywhere sees naught but good things ahead, Joe Trace, center-aged door-to-door salesman of Cleopatra beauty products, shoots his teenage lover to death. At the funeral, Joe's wife, Violet, attacks the girl's corpse. This passionate, profound story of dear and obsession brings united states of america back and forth in fourth dimension, every bit a narrative is assembled from the emotions, hopes, fears, and deep realities of blackness urban life."
iii. The Commitments by Roddy Doyle
"The Commitments (are) a group of fame-starved, working-class Irish youths with a paradoxical passion for the music of Sam Cooke and Otis Redding and a mission—to bring Soul to Dublin…(Doyle's) book captures all the shadings of the rock experience: ambition, greed, and egotism—and the redeeming, exhilarating joy of making music."
4. Coming through the Slaughter past Michael Ondaatje
"Bringing to life the fabled, colorful panorama of New Orleans in the start flush of the jazz era, this book tells the story of Buddy Bolden, the start of the slap-up trumpet players—some say the originator of jazz—who was, in any instance, the genius, the guiding spirit, and the male monarch of that time and identify."
5. Dear in Vain: A Vision of Robert by Alan Greenberg
"Robert Johnson was undoubtedly the most outstanding of the Mississippi Delta blues musicians and also ane of the kickoff inductees into the Rock and Scroll Hall of Fame, but his brusque life remains steeped in mystery and wrapped in some of the most enduring legends of modernistic music."
6. The Peachy Gatsby past F. Scott Fitzgerald
"Get-go published in 1925, this quintessential novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the mysteriously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his dear for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Isle at a time whenThe New York Times noted "gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession," it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s."
seven. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
"Somewhere in South America, at the home of the state's vice president, a lavish altogether party is being held in honor of the powerful businessman Mr. Hosokawa. Roxane Coss, opera's well-nigh revered soprano, has mesmerized the international guests with her singing. It is a perfect evening—until a ring of gun-wielding terrorists takes the entire party hostage."
8. Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro
"Here is a frail, one time famous vocaliser, turning his dorsum on the one thing he loves; a music junky with little else to offer his friends but opinion; a songwriter who inadvertently breaks up a marriage; a jazz musician who thinks the respond to his career lies in changing his physical appearance; and a young cellist whose tutor has devised a remarkable mode to foster his talent. For each, music is a central office of their lives and, in one way or some other, delivers them to an epiphany."
9. A Visit from the Goon Team past Jennifer Egan
"Bennie is an crumbling erstwhile punk rocker and record executive. Sasha is the passionate, troubled immature woman he employs. Hither Jennifer Egan brilliantly reveals their pasts, along with the inner lives of a host of other characters whose paths intersect with theirs. With music pulsing on every page,A Visit from the Goon Squadis a startling, exhilarating novel of self-destruction and redemption.
10. Invisible Human by Ralph Ellison
"The nameless narrator of the novel describes growing up in a blackness community in the S, attention a Negro college from which he is expelled, moving to New York and becoming the principal spokesman of the Harlem co-operative of 'the Brotherhood,' and retreating amid violence and confusion to the basement lair of the Invisible Homo he imagines himself to be."
11. An Equal Music by Vikram Seth
"Michael Holme is a violinist, a member of the successful Maggiore Quartet. He has long been haunted, though, past memories of the pianist he loved and left ten years earlier, Julia McNicholl. At present Julia, married and the female parent of a small child, unexpectedly reenters his life and the romance flares up again."
12. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
"An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization'south collapse,Station Xitells the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity."
13. The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
"Lethem creates an overwhelmingly rich and emotionally gripping sail of race and form, superheros, gentrification, funk, hip-hop, graffiti tagging, loyalty, and retention."
fourteen. Dr. Faustus by Thomas Mann
"One of the most durable myths in Western civilisation, the story of Faust tells of a learned German doctor who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and ability."
15.The mambo kings play songs of belovedby oscar hijuelos
"It'southward 1949 and two young Cuban musicians make their way from Havana to the grand stage of New York City. It is the era of mambo, and the Castillo brothers, workers by day, become stars of the dance halls by night, where their orchestra plays the lush, sensuous, pulsing music that earns them the title of the Mambo Kings."
xvi. Dancer past Colum McCann
"Taking his inspira
tion from biographical facts, novelist Colum McCann tells the erotically charged story of the Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev through the bandage of those who knew him…And at the center of the spectacle stands the artist himself, willful, lustful, and driven by a never-to-exist-met need for perfection."
17. The Vampire Lestat by Anne rice
"Once an aristocrat in the heady days of pre-revolutionary French republic, now a rock star in the demonic, shimmering 1980s, (the vampire, Lestat) rushes through the centuries in search of others like him, seeking answers to the mystery of his eternal, terrifying existence. His is a mesmerizing story—passionate, complex, and thrilling."
18. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
"Cloud Atlas begins in 1850 with Adam Ewing, an American notary voyaging from the Chatham Isles to his habitation in California. Along the way, Ewing is befriended by a doc, Dr. Goose, who begins to treat him for a rare species of brain parasite…Abruptly, the activity jumps to Belgium in 1931, where Robert Frobisher, a disinherited bisexual composer, contrives his style into the household of an infirm maestro who has a beguiling wife and a nubile daughter… "
19. The Footing Below Her Feet past Salman Rushdie
"The Footing Beneath Her Feet is Salman Rushdie'due south virtually gripping novel and his boldest imaginative human activity, a vision of our shaken, mutating times, an date with the whole of what is and what might be, an business relationship of the intimate, flawed come across betwixt the E and the West, a brilliant remaking of the myth of Orpheus, a novel of high (and depression) one-act, loftier (and low) passions, loftier (and depression) culture. It is a tale of dear, death, and rock 'n' roll."
20. Cavedweller by Dorothy Allison
"When Delia Byrd packs up her old Datsun and her girl Cissy and gets on the Santa Monica Freeway heading south and east, she is leaving everything she has known for 10 years: the tinsel glitter of the rock 'n' curlicue globe; her dreams of singing and songwriting; and a life lived on credit cards and whiskey with a homo who made promises he couldn't keep. Delia Byrd is going dorsum to Cayro, Georgia, to reclaim her life—and the two daughters she left backside…"
books well-nigh music history and Nonfiction books nigh music
1. Bass Civilization: When Reggae was King by Lloyd Bradley
"The first major account of the history of reggae, black music journalist Lloyd Bradley describes its origins and development in Jamaica, from ska to rock-steady to dub and then to reggae itself, a local music which conquered the world."
ii. The Force of Listening by Lucia Farinati and Claudia Firth
"Written as a constructed dialogue,The Force of Listening draws from conversations with artists, activists and political thinkers which took place during 2013–14, in the aftermath of the moving ridge of protests and occupations against austerity."
3. Personal Stereo by Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow
"InPersonal Stereo, Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow takes us back to the nascency of the (Walkman), exploring legal battles over credit for its invention, its ambivalent reception in 1980s America, and its lasting effects on social norms and public space."
4. The Autobiography of Gucci Mane by Gucci Mane with Neil Martinez-Belkin
"For the first time Gucci Mane tells his story in his own words. It is the captivating life of an creative person who forged an unlikely path to stardom and personal rebirth. Gucci Mane began writing his memoir in a maximum-security federal prison. Released in 2016, he emerged radically transformed. He was sober, smiling, focused, and positive—a far weep from the Gucci Mane of years past."
5. Good Booty: Dearest and Sex, Blackness and White, Body and Soul in American Music by Ann Powers
"In this sweeping history of popular music in the United states of america, NPR's acclaimed music critic examines how popular music shapes fundamental American ideas and beliefs, allowing u.s. to communicate difficult emotions and truths well-nigh our about fraught social issues, most notably sex and race."
half-dozen. How Music Works by David Byrne
"How Music Works is David Byrne's incisive and enthusiastic look at the musical art form, from its very inceptions to the influences that shape it, whether acoustical, economical, social or technological."
7. Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks
"InMusicophilia, (Oliver Sacks) shows united states of america a variety of what he calls 'musical misalignments.' Amid them: a man struck by lightning who suddenly desires to go a pianist at the age of 40-2; an entire grouping of children with Williams syndrome, who are hypermusical from birth; people with 'amusia,' to whom a symphony sounds like the clattering of pots and pans; and a man whose memory spans only seven seconds—for everything but music."
viii. Terminal Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick
"Last Railroad train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley is the start biography to go by that myth and present an Elvis beyond the legend. Based on hundreds of interviews and about a decade of research, it traces the development non just of the man merely of the music and of the culture he left utterly transformed, creating a completely fresh portrait of Elvis and his globe."
ix. Miles: The Autobiography by Miles Davis and Quincy Troupe
"For more than than forty years Miles Davis has been in the front rank of American music. Universally acclaimed as a musical genius, Miles is one of the most important and influential musicians in the earth. The subject of several biographies, now Miles speaks out himself virtually his extraordinary life."
10. Tin't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation by Jeff Chang
"Forged in the fires of the Bronx and Kingston, Jamaica, hip-hop became the Esperanto of youth rebellion and a generation-defining movement. In a postal service-civil rights era defined past deindustrialization and globalization, hip-hop crystallized a multiracial, polycultural generation's worldview, and transformed American politics and culture."
11. The penguin guide to jazz recordings by Richard Melt and Brian Morton
"Firmly established as the world'due south leading guide to jazz, this historic reference book is a mine of fascinating information and insightful, oft wittily trenchant, criticism. For this completely revised edition, Richard Cook and Brian Morton have reassessed each artist's entry and updated the text to incorporate thousands of boosted CDs and artists."
12. Decoded by JAY-Z and Dream Hampton
"Decodedis a book similar no other: a collection of lyrics and their meanings that together tell the story of a culture, an art grade, a moment in history, and one of the most provocative and successful artists of our time."
13. This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human being Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin
"In this groundbreaking union of art and science, rocker-turned-neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin explores the connection between music—its operation, its composition, how nosotros listen to it, why we enjoy it—and the human brain."
xiv. Stone She Wrote: Women Write Well-nigh Stone, Pop, and Rap Ed. Evelyn McDonnell and Ann Powers
"Stone She Wrote collects the best of women'south writing on music from the 1960s to the present, from the days when women were only tolerated as screaming groupies behind the scenes to the day they took center stage as performers and critics in their own correct. These vibrant, subversive, irreverent and frequently brilliant voices on the music of then and now tell the sidelined history of women in stone. "
15. Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye by David Ritz
"Drawing from interviews conducted before Marvin Gaye's death, acclaimed music writer David Ritz has created a total-scale portrait of the brilliant but tormented artist."
16. They Can't Kill The states Until They Impale Us by Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib
"In an historic period of confusion, fright, and loss, Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib'southward is a voice that matters. Whether he'southward attending a Bruce Springsteen concert the day after visiting Michael Brown'due south grave, or discussing public displays of affection at a Carly Rae Jepsen show, he writes with a poignancy and magnetism that resonates profoundly."
17. The Fine art of Asking: How I Learned to Cease Worrying and Let People Help by Amanda Palmer
"Stone star, crowdfunding pioneer, and TED speaker Amanda Palmer knows all about asking. Performing as a living statue in a wedding dress, she wordlessly asked thousands of passersby for their dollars. When she became a singer, songwriter, and musician, she was not agape to ask her audience to support her as she surfed the crowd (and slept on their couches while touring)."
eighteen. The Music of Black Americans: A History by Eileen Southern
"Kickoff with the inflow of the first Africans in the English colonies, Eileen Southern weaves a fascinating narrative of intense musical activeness. Equally singers, players, and composers, blackness American musicians are fully chronicled in this landmark book."
19. Blues People: Negro Music in White America by Leroi Jones (Amiri Baraka)
"From the music of African slaves in the United States through the music scene of the 1960'south, Baraka traces the influence of what he calls "negro music" on white America—not but in the context of music and pop culture just likewise in terms of the values and perspectives passed on through the music. In tracing the music, he brilliantly illuminates the influence of African Americans on American culture and history."
20. How Music Got Costless: A Story of Obsession and Invention by Stephen Witt
"How Music Got Gratis is a riveting story of obsession, music, law-breaking, and money, featuring visionaries and criminals, moguls and tech-savvy teenagers. It'due south about the greatest pirate in history, the most powerful executive in the music concern, a revolutionary invention and an illegal website four times the size of the iTunes Music Store."
21. Billie Vacation: the Musician and the Myth by John Szwed
"Nearly of the writing on Holiday has focused on the tragic details of her life—her prostitution at the age of fourteen, her heroin addiction and alcoholism, her series of abusive relationships—or tried to correct the many fabrications of her autobiography. Only now,Billie Holidaystays close to the music, to her performance style, and to the self she created and put into print, on record and on phase."
22. A Freewheelin' Fourth dimension by Suze Rotolo
"Suze Rotolo chronicles her coming of age in Greenwich Village during the 1960s and the early days of the folk music explosion, when Bob Dylan was finding his phonation and she was his muse."
23. A Life in Letters by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
"A selection of Mozart's letters, translated into English language, consummate with notes, linking commentary and chronology."
24. Confessions of a Video Vixen by Karrine Steffans
Part tell-all, function cautionary tale, this emotionally charged memoir from a sometime video vixen nicknamed 'Superhead' goes beyond the glamour of celebrity to reveal the inner workings of the hip-hop dancer industry—from the physical and emotional corruption that's rampant in the manufacture, and which marked her own life—to the excessive utilise of drugs, sex and bling.
25. Let Me Clear My Throat: essays by Elena Passarello
"From Farinelli, the eighteenth century castrato who brought downwardly opera houses with his high C, to the recording of 'Johnny B. Goode' affixed to the Voyager spacecraft,Allow Me Clear My Throat dissects the whys and hows of popular voices, making them hum with significance and emotion."
26.The white albumby joan didion
"The White Albumrecords indelibly the upheavals and aftermaths of the 1960s. Examining key events, figures, and trends of the era—including Charles Manson, the Blackness Panthers, and the shopping mall—through the lens of her ain spiritual confusion, Joan Didion helped to define mass civilization as nosotros now understand information technology. Written with a commanding sureness of tone and linguistic precision,The White Album is a central text of American reportage and a classic of American autobiography."
27. The Well-nigh Beautiful: My Life with Prince by Mayte Garcia
"Love musician Prince's beginning wife shares a uniquely intimate, candid, and revelatory look within the personal and professional life of ane of the globe'due south most dearest icons in this critically acclaimedNew York Times bestseller."
28. Just Kids by Patti Smith
"An honest and moving story of youth and friendship, Smith brings the same unique, lyrical quality toSimply Kidsas she has to the rest of her formidable body of work—from her influential 1975 albumHorses to her visual art and poetry.
29. Mo' Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and Ben Greenman
"Mo' Meta Dejection is a punch-boozer memoir in which Everyone's Favorite Questlove tells his own story while tackling some of the lates, the greats, the fakes, the philosophers, the heavyweights, and the true originals of the music world. He digs deep into the anthology cuts of his life and unearths some pivotal moments in blackness art, hip hop, and pop civilisation."
30. Love & Theft: Greasepaint Minstrelsy and the American Working Class past Eric Lott
"Built-in of extreme racial and class conflicts, the blackface minstrel show appropriated blackness dialect, music, and dance; at in one case applauded and lampooned blackness culture; and, ironically, contributed to a 'blackening of America.'"
For more recommendations, try this post virtually what yous should read based on your musical tastes.
Did nosotros miss any of your favorite Novels about Music or Non Fiction Books about Music? Permit united states know in the comments!
Source: https://bookriot.com/books-about-music/
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