One of The Telegraphs Best Music Books 2011 Alex Rosss award-winning international bestseller; The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century; has become a contemporary classic; establishing Ross as one of our most popular and acclaimed cultural historians. Listen to This; which takes its title from a beloved 2004 essay in which Ross describes his late-blooming discovery of pop music; showcases the best of his writing from more than a decade at The New Yorker. These pieces; dedicated to classical and popular artists alike; are at once erudite and lively. In a previously unpublished essay; Ross brilliantly retells hundreds of years of music historymdash;from Renaissance dances to Led Zeppelinmdash;through a few iconic bass lines of celebration and lament. He vibrantly sketches canonical composers such as Schubert; Verdi; and Brahms; gives us in-depth interviews with modern pop masters such as Bjouml;rk and Radiohead; and introduces us to music students at a Newark high school and indie-rock hipsters in Beijing.Whether his subject is Mozart or Bob Dylan; Ross shows how music expresses the full complexity of the human condition. Witty; passionate; and brimming with insight; Listen to This teaches us how to listen more closely.
#1221339 in eBooks 2010-06-09 2010-06-29File Name: B003QMLHWO
Review
7 of 11 people found the following review helpful. Terrifying Visual AnthropologyBy A CustomerWhat a pleasure it is to experience the work of an author who has total command over his material. In a slender 160 pages. the author explains -- in both words and pictures -- the mythology. anthropology. abuse. and endurance of this fascinating and lurid symbol. This is one of the most interesting books on fascist regalia written in recent years.13 of 13 people found the following review helpful. History of the Swastika Before and After HitlerBy lordhootIn a relatively a short book. less then 160 pages. the author Stephen Heller managed to recount the history and usages of this notorious symbol used by Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party. The book is filled of illustrations showing how this symbol were used by many cultures from many lands across the face of this planet thousands of years prior to Hitlers Third Reich. Hitlers claims that swastika is a pure "Aryan" symbol mocked his own understanding of this symbol. It pretty clear by authors assertions that swastika have been used by many for various purposes. Some of the most interesting aspects the author brought up was that swastika was the symbol the Girls Club in the United States during the early of the 20th century and each of their magazine covers had swastika all over it.Although the author touched on the Asian usage of the swastika. he fell little short regarding the Asian elements of the swastika and its meanings. When my father was stationed in Japan. I had a chance to see many swastikas on Japanese temples and surprised to see swastikas adopted into some of the Japanese samurai families mon (family crest) during that era of history. One of the more funnier things I have seen was reading a Japanese map and seeing all these red swastikas on the map - each of them showing the location of a temple or a shrine. One of my friends who didnt know any better asked once if that map is showing where all the Nazis live in this area.The author also wrote some interesting stuff on whether this symbol can ever be save from how we see it today. symbol of evil. racism and hate. The book came to a regretful conclusion that as long as there are large numbers of racists and anti-Semites out there using the swastika for their own purpose and with its history. this symbol can never be reclaim in innocence. In some way. the swastikas fate can be linked with the Confederate Battle Flag. Both will always be associated with racism and hate as long as there are people who will used it as such.Overall. a very useful book and interesting reading material to anyone who wants to know more about this symbol which apparently been hijacked permanently by Adolf Hitler and those like him.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Excellent and Fun Graphic HistoryBy C. Martin CentnerSteven Heller is both graphic designer and historian. This book explains. and better shows. how the Swastica came to be both part of our culture and the symbol of evil. This was the second copy of the book I purchased. It is both unique and interesting.
