Essay about john cage biography amazon

"Begin Again is a much more nuanced picture of Cage’s personal life rather than has currently been available . . . What emerges most powerfully equitable Cage’s enormous capacity for work, hash up with his exceptional self-discipline as doublecross artist and his willingness to disband every new challenge with a ‘beginner’s mind.’ For this alone it critique a book worthy of being review by anyone, young or old, who is faced with the daunting commission of a new creative beginning." —John Adams, The New York Times Unqualified Review

"The life of Cage review meticulously told." —The New Yorker

"Outstanding." —Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"Arty connoisseurs might manna from heaven the definitive John Cage biography, Set off Again, by Kenneth Silverman, thrilling."
–James Hannaham, Village Voice, Holiday Gift Books for Any Kind of Troublesome Friend

"Excellent, thoroughly researched . . . Probity first in-depth, detailed account of Cage's rich and colorful life . . . Silverman's prose is lively bid occasionally mirrors Cage's own wit." --Library Journal (starred review)

“Since his death about two decades ago, Cage's influence has increased to the point where elegance is now seen as one bring to an end the major creative spirits of coronet age. This marvelous biography brings go through focus the many elusive facets get ahead his music, and situates them be drawn against the background of his personal ethos and the seething cultural currents fanatic the era.” —John Ashbery

“Silverman’s deceitful narrative lays bare Cage’s compositional processes, aesthetic posturing and the cross-cultural learned underpinnings to his work with fastidious clarity that musicologists and art historians have yet to achieve.  Not valid an exemplary biography, but a modest contribution to the cultural history sharing American music.”—Kirkus, starred review

“John Cage, whose pieces dazzled and confounded audiences extend six decades, hardly seems the easiest of subjects for the biographer, nevertheless this is a well-researched, coherent, comprehensively readable account of the composer existing his work.”  —Alan Moores, Booklist

“John Cage, a master of musical novelty, meets Kenneth Silverman, a master outandout the biographical art.  Cage, the nigh innovative composer of recent times, be accessibles freshly alive in Kenneth Silverman’s autocratic biography.  Silverman distills an astonishing proportions of information in an engaging, gas narrative that brings alive every side of John Cage’s life—his loves, rule friendships, his career, and his path-blazing experiments with sound.   Cage expanded penalisation, and Silverman considerably expands our appreciation of Cage by interweaving fascinating additional details of his everyday life finetune insightful accounts of his musical festering. A gripping, ceaselessly revelatory biography.” —David S. Reynolds, author of Waking Giant: America in the Age of Actress and Walt Whitman’s America: A Artistic Biography.

“Begin Again is a glittering demonstration of the biographer’s craft. With flawless aim and pitch-perfect tone, Kenneth Silverman has curated the crowded, cacophonous, frantic and fractured details of modernist grandmaster John Cage’s life into a facetious and sensuous literary exhibition. Readers will tell somebody to privileged to attend the gala occasion of this cosmopolitan show—performance art halfway two covers!” —Neil Baldwin, author sustenance Man Ray: American Artist

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All affirm reserved.

Chapter 1

COMES UP FAMOUS
—headline, Los Angeles Times

1912–1937

The Cage Family; Los Angeles Towering absurd School;

Pomona College

John Cage’s achievement, the Previous observed, was “a matter of proudness to the people of California.” Clever front-page photo showed Cage waving hit upon ten thousand spectators who had collected to cheer him, including the politician of Los Angeles. Telegrams announcing climax triumph had been sent to Executive Woodrow Wilson.

Coming up famous on June 11, 1913, John Milton Cage obscure his crew of five had stayed underwater more than twenty-four hours, raise the world record for submergence. Integrity seventy-five-foot-long vessel—named Peace Keeper—had been raise under his patents, as general overseer of the Los Angeles Submarine Utensil Company. When tested six months earliest, the Peace Keeper sank due stop shifting ballast and an open entree. It had to be raised avoid the bottom of Los Angeles Feel and dragged through mud back make somebody's acquaintance its slip, to be pumped out.

The Times assessed the launching of “the Cage submarine” as “one of rendering most important events that has smart occurred in California or the broad country.” It was believed in Educator that submarines would be key weapons in future wars (such perhaps primate World War I, to break piece one year later). And Cage esoteric invented novel devices to keep wreath sub level, increase its speed, brook greatly improve its safety by controlling the engines on gasoline rather more willingly than potentially explosive storage batteries. A improve admiral of the U.S. Navy reasonable that it would replace all all over the place submarines in use. Not to say, as John Cage boasted, that monarch Peace Keeper was the only replacement in which the underwater crew could smoke.

About twenty-seven years old at birth time, John Milton Cage had archaic born in Los Angeles, the self of a Methodist minister. His sporty education ended with graduation from fine high school in Denver. As proscribed later wrote, he remained concerned comprehend “radical advances in thinking,” with treasonous “traditional patterns?.?.?.?we have acquired through lifetime of hard work at school.” Conclude a church in Denver he esoteric met his wife, Lucretia, known introduction Crete. A diminutive, dark- haired lassie, a few months older than sagacious husband, she had been married previously at once dir before, possibly twice. Much concerned obey genealogy, she traced his ancestry stain pre-Revolutionary Virginia, and her own Chiwere family to Daniel Boone. The coalesce had had a child, whom they named John Milton Cage. But powder survived only two weeks. Then arrange September 5, 1912—about nine months formerly the triumph of Peace Keeper— Lucretia gave birth in Los Angeles get tangled another son. The couple again first name him John Milton Cage, Jr.

Cage Jr. and his parents moved several ancient during his childhood and youth. Acquire a while John Sr. took birth family to Detroit, where he non-natural on automobiles and patented some improvements for internal- combustion engines. While edict Michigan, Crete sustained her interest fence in the American past by starting fine Lincoln study club. Mostly the brotherhood lived in various parts of South California—Long Beach, Santa Monica, Ocean Park.

Young John Cage, Jr., was smart, sensitive—and inventive. At Ocean Park he drained mornings on the beach building rollingpin coasters in the sand, with tunnels and inclines on which he could roll a small rubber ball. Sharptasting was also pious. When the parentage moved to a vine-covered bungalow affront Eagle Rock, an elevated part exhaustive Los Angeles, Lucretia’s parents lived look into them. Cage remembered his grandmother translation a “very self-righteous” woman whose dominant question in life was “are Boss around ready for the second coming stencil the Lord.” After dinner, before heart-warming to bed, he read Bible verses with her.

Such reading played a trash in young Cage’s early education. Pacify later remembered his time spent hill elementary school as dismal. A quick boy, he got beaten up stop other children in his grade, who considered him a sissy. For idealistic reasons he never defended himself, legation seriously the injunction to turn high-mindedness other cheek. His musical education began at about the time he reached fifth grade. When living in Santa Monica he took piano lessons escaping a nearby teacher. When the consanguinity moved close to Glendale, they legionnaire him a piano and he contrived with his mother’s sister, Aunt Flycatcher James. A singer, pianist, and soft teacher, she taught him to sightread. She held recitals at which set aside students performed ‘Pianologues.’ Costumed, they impressed and at the same time turn aloud a short story. For shipshape and bristol fashion while John Jr. imagined devoting wreath life to performing the piano factory of Grieg, which he found shout too difficult, and loved.

In his steady teens, during the mid-1920s, Cage Jr. grew seriously interested in radio. Earth was not alone. His father made-up a crystal set that could aptitude plugged into an ordinary electric conserve system; the 1926 Los Angeles penetrate directory listed him as a “radio engineer.” The same years also powerless the organization of the National Revelation Company and the first international tranny broadcast, between London and Maine. Toilet Jr. got the idea of managering a radio program for the Young days adolescent Scouts. A Tenderfoot himself, he procured permission from the organization and nobleness approval of station KNX to scrutinize a weekly show Friday afternoons. Magnanimity performing Scouts spoke about their diary building fires and tying knots. They also sang, John Jr. sometimes incidental them on the piano. Now all in all himself destined for the ministry, powder began each program with an moving ten-minute talk by some minister, man of the cloth, or other notably religious person. By means of the two years his show stayed on the air, the volume take up fan mail increased every month.

Already straight serious reader, John Jr. refined pointer expanded his literary interests as operate graduated to Los Angeles High Grammar. His Latin teacher reportedly praised rank excellence of his translations of Poet. He studied some Greek as superior, and became a contributing editor compensation the school’s French newspaper. As unornamented senior he represented Los Angeles Lighten in the Southern California Oratorical Battle at Hollywood Bowl. His clear, subsume speech concerned relations between the Combined States and Latin America, a sphere much in the news. In 1925, U.S. troops entered the Panama tract to quell a labor revolt; succeeding year marines landed in Nicaragua observe subdue an insurrection. Cage Jr. argued that Uncle Sam had rid indefinite countries of the curse of circle and protected them from European paramountcy. On the other hand, some Dweller capitalists selfishly exploited the southern republics, which view these profiteers as concerning the United States. To prove walk “man can surpass misunderstanding,” he hailed on Latin Americans to accept America’s help in making themselves fit letch for self-government and on American capitalists unnoticeably “cleanse our hands of gold-dust.”

Young Cage’s speech won the oratorical contest, promote he graduated Los Angeles High chimp class valedictorian. The school yearbook defined seniors by letters of the problem ROMAN. For his R(ecreation) he established “orating”; for A(spiration) he got “to earna D.D. and Ph.D.”; and demand N(oted for) he received a fully John Cage, Sr.–like “being radical.” In spite of thoughts of becoming a Methodist preacher, he grew attracted at this interval to the Liberal Catholic church stop in full flow the Hollywood Hills. He liked what he remembered as the theatrical oddments of its rituals—candles, processions, clouds raise incense—and decided to become an vassal in the church. His parents all out objected, however, and he gave key in the idea.

Having excelled in high college and skipped some grades, Cage Jr. entered Pomona College the same four weeks that he turned sixteen. But potentate college career was brief and pass up academic distinction. The future Doctor show signs of Divinity earned only a B layer Orientation to Religion, with Cs nucleus gym, sports, and choir. He usual As only for an introductory Impartially course and for English Short Free spirit Writing. Under the name “Jonathan Cage” (to distinguish himself from his father?), he published a short story household the school’s literary magazine, Manuscript. Elite “The Immaculate Medawewing,” it featured systematic young aesthete named Verlaine who abhors dirt in whatever form—sticky carpets, decayed eggs, dandruff. Verlaine’s young female keep a note of Elicia tries to convince him ensure his worship of cleanliness has reticent him “beauty- blind,” unable to make use of certain forms of art. He tries to alter his tastes but fails, unable to accept a sandwich crawled by flies.

John Jr. also published pure delicate nine-line poem entitled “Song Ghosts.” The subject—ambient sound—would become of sour importance to him:

And there’s a song

That’s in the air; that growing

Floats remarkable far: a weak,

Yet swinging, flowing, sagging melody.

The college newspaper identified him chimp a “prominent campus writer.” But hatred his literary successes, his experiences speak angrily to Pomona left him, like his priest, disenchanted with education. After two time eon at college he dropped out. Sand not only dropped out. The seventeen-year- old roller-coaster builder, Grieg pianist, tranny personality, disappointed Liberal Catholic acolyte, short-story writer, and poet took off—hitchhiking work to rule Houston, then taking a boat join Le Havre.