Wondrous Strange: The Life and Art of Glenn Gould

Wondrous Strange: The Life and Art of Glenn Gould
by Kevin Bazzana

Wondrous Strange: The Life and Art of Glenn Gould
List Price: $39.95
Our Price: $16.00
You Save: $23.95 (60%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Kevin Bazzana
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-05-12
ISBN: 0195182464
Number of pages: 560
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Book Reviews of Wondrous Strange: The Life and Art of Glenn Gould

Book Review: Terrific biography of Glenn Gould
Summary: 5 Stars

This is a wonderful biography on one of the world's finest and beloved musicians. The writing is detailed and articulate but never boring. However, if you do not have a background in music, the writings on classical music could be difficult to decipher for the layman. An excellent read!!

Summary of Wondrous Strange: The Life and Art of Glenn Gould

When Mikhail Baryshnikov defected in Toronto in 1974, he admitted that he knew only three things about Canada: It had great hockey teams, a lot of wheatfields, and Glenn Gould.
In Wondrous Strange, Kevin Bazzana vividly recaptures the life of Glenn Gould, one of the most celebrated pianists of our time. Drawing on twenty years of intensive research, including unrestricted access to Gould's private papers and interviews with scores of friends and colleagues, many of them never interviewed before, Bazzana sheds new light on such topics as Gould's family history, his secretive sexual life, and the mysterious problems that afflicted his hands in his later years. The author places Gould's distinctive traits--his eccentric interpretations, his garish onstage demeanor, his resistance to convention--against the backdrop of his religious, upper- middle-class Canadian childhood, illuminating the influence of Gould's mother as well as the lasting impact of the only piano teacher Gould ever had. Bazzana offers a fresh appreciation of Gould's concert career--his high-profile but illness-plagued international tours, his adventurous work for Canadian music festivals, his musical and legal problems with Steinway & Sons. In 1964, Gould made the extraordinary decision to perform only for records, radio, television, and film, a turning point that the author examines with unprecedented thoroughness (discussing, for example, his far-seeing interest in new recording technology). Here, too, are Gould's interests away from the piano, from his ambitious but failed effort to be a composer to his innovative brand of "contrapuntal radio."
Richly illustrated with rare photographs, Wondrous Strange is a superbly written account of one of the most memorable and accomplished musicians of our times.

History & Criticism Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in History & Criticism Books
KISS and Make-up ImageKISS and Make-up
by Gene Simmons
Crown; Published: 2001-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.99
Price in other shops: $25.95
Elvis Presley: A Life in Music : The Complete Recording Sessions ImageElvis Presley: A Life in Music : The Complete Recording Sessions
by Ernst Jorgensen
St Martins Pr; Published: 1998-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $199.99
The Devil's Horn: The Story of the Saxophone, from Noisy Novelty to King of Cool ImageThe Devil's Horn: The Story of the Saxophone, from Noisy Novelty to King of Cool
by Michael Segell
Picador; Published: 2006-08-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.81
Price in other shops: $16.00
Elvis: My Best Man: Radio Days, Rock 'n' Roll Nights, and My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley ImageElvis: My Best Man: Radio Days, Rock 'n' Roll Nights, and My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley
by George Klein, Chuck Crisafulli
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2011-01-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.49
Price in other shops: $15.00
Bill Evans: How My Heart Sings ImageBill Evans: How My Heart Sings
by Mr. Peter Pettinger
Yale University Press; Published: 1998-08-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $76.30
Microsound ImageMicrosound
by Curtis Roads
The MIT Press; Published: 2004-08-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $24.00
Price in other shops: $34.00
Hip Hop America ImageHip Hop America
by Nelson George
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2005-04-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.52
Price in other shops: $15.00
A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album ImageA Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album
by Ashley Kahn
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2003-10-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.74
Price in other shops: $16.00
Jazz Styles: History and Analysis (10th Edition) ImageJazz Styles: History and Analysis (10th Edition)
by Mark C. Gridley
Prentice Hall; Published: 2008-01-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $45.99
Price in other shops: $95.60
Dark Star: An Oral Biography of Jerry Garcia ImageDark Star: An Oral Biography of Jerry Garcia
by Robert Greenfield
It Books; Published: 2009-02-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.47
Price in other shops: $14.99
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories