Writings about John Cage

divDistinguished composers, performers, and critics offer views of one of the most important figures in twentieth-century musicbr/divdivJohn Cage was one of the most extraordinary and intriguing composers of the twentieth century--or perhaps of any century. His vast corpus of musical compositions, writings, and performances has amazed, amused, bored, enlightened, angered, and fascinated audiences throughout the world. Despite the controversy surrounding his work, there is little disagreement about his role as one of the most important and influential members of the avant-garde.br/divdivIniWritings about John Cage,/ithe renowned Cage expert Richard Kostelanetz has collected the writings of thirty-seven prominent scholars and critics. Selections include articles by the composers Henry Cowell, Peggy Glanville-Hicks, Lou Harrison, Michael Nyman, Virgil Thomson, and Christian Wolff; by literary figures Paul Bowles, John Hollander, and Manfredi Piccolomini; by critics Daniel Charles, Jill Johnston, Edward Rothstein, Calvin Tomkins, and Peter Yates; and by performers Merce Cunningham and Paul Zukofsky. The contributions cover all aspects of Cage's life and career, including his music, his aesthetics, his prose and poetry, his visual art, and his contributions to modern dance.br/divdivRichard Kostelanetz is a poet and critic who has written and edited numerous books on aesthetics, the avant-garde, and literature, includingiThe Avant-Garde Tradition in Literature, On Innovative Music(ian)s, The Theatre of Mixed Means,/iandiEsthetics Contemporary./iHe is the author ofiThe Old Poetries and the New,/ialso published by the University of Michigan Press. His books on Cage includeiJohn Cage/iandiConversing with Cage./ibr/divdiv. . . the most intelligently chosen book of writings about Cage that I've seen. . . . Kostelanetz is a practiced and gifted anthologist, with the discriminating eye of a litterateur, the sensibility of a poet