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mnemognose's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
alperezq's review
4.0
I usually read memoirs when someone's life is extraordinary or particularly intriguing, I made an exception for this book simply because of how much I love Philip Glass' music and i just wanted to know more about him.
Indeed, in terms of his life story, Glass' is a somewhat simple one, is just the story of someone who loves music and art. The writing is very economic, but surprisingly not boring, and he does manage to be engaging as a writer despite it not being a particularly exciting book.
Two main aspects fo the book are particularly captivating, 1) Glass' description of art life in NY in the 60's makes it sound really cool (while also a bit pretentious and with a bit too much name dropping) and 2) the descriptions of his process as a musician, how he discovers his style, and overall his music philosophy are generally beautiful, despite being technical at points.
It's a good book if you're really into Philip Glass but not a book that would have any appeal for a casual reader.
Music for this book
The Essential - Philip Glass
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Music was no longer a metaphor for the real world somewhere out there. It was becoming the opposite. The 'out there' stuff was the metaphor and the real part was, and is to this day, the music. Night trains can make those things happen. The sounds of daily life were entering me almost unnoticed."
"If you don't know what to do, there's actually a chance of doing something new."
"...music and science have been my great loves. I see scientists as visionaries, as poets."
"If you go to New York City to study music, you'll end up like your uncle Henry, spending your life traveling from city to city and living in hotels."
"He runs after me and we do it again, him pushing and running, me with my feet looking for the ground, and sometime touching the pedals."
Indeed, in terms of his life story, Glass' is a somewhat simple one, is just the story of someone who loves music and art. The writing is very economic, but surprisingly not boring, and he does manage to be engaging as a writer despite it not being a particularly exciting book.
Two main aspects fo the book are particularly captivating, 1) Glass' description of art life in NY in the 60's makes it sound really cool (while also a bit pretentious and with a bit too much name dropping) and 2) the descriptions of his process as a musician, how he discovers his style, and overall his music philosophy are generally beautiful, despite being technical at points.
It's a good book if you're really into Philip Glass but not a book that would have any appeal for a casual reader.
Music for this book
The Essential - Philip Glass
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Music was no longer a metaphor for the real world somewhere out there. It was becoming the opposite. The 'out there' stuff was the metaphor and the real part was, and is to this day, the music. Night trains can make those things happen. The sounds of daily life were entering me almost unnoticed."
"If you don't know what to do, there's actually a chance of doing something new."
"...music and science have been my great loves. I see scientists as visionaries, as poets."
"If you go to New York City to study music, you'll end up like your uncle Henry, spending your life traveling from city to city and living in hotels."
"He runs after me and we do it again, him pushing and running, me with my feet looking for the ground, and sometime touching the pedals."
whitneyborup's review
3.0
I know everyone is just trying their best, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get over my annoyance with white Buddhist celebrities.
clarikatie's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely incredible read. If you're a musician or an aspiring musician, especially if you're a composer, or even if you're none of those things, read this if you want to be inspired and liberated of your notions about fame, art, and life as an artist. Colorful, inspiring, and completely engaging.
m4ryk4te's review against another edition
I love Philip Glass. I really truly do. And it is interesting to hear about his upbringing and his life, but ultimately this book was so dry. My king is incredible at writing music. But books? Ehhhhhhh...
Might give this another try as an audiobook though.
Might give this another try as an audiobook though.
emily_britton's review
informative
medium-paced
4.25
Really nicely written, about a fascinating man who's led an interesting life.
ksoanes's review against another edition
4.0
As a huge fan of Philip Glass's music I've been looking forward to reading his autobiography. It did not disappoint, he is a surprisingly good writer. I wish the book had come with a play list by chapter of music that had influenced him along with his own music so you know what to put in the que for a particular chapter. After reading this I plan to read Nadia Boulanger's biography - it is amazing that she studied with Faure and went on to teach Copland, Glass, Quincy Jones, and Piazzolla to name a few. They are each so distinct. As I read I listened to the variety of Glass I own and had a renewed appreciation and some new understanding of it.
barrypierce's review
3.0
My obsession with Philip Glass' music is probably a type of mania. There I am, sitting, just listening to the same couple of notes being played over and over again, sometimes for hours. And I love it.
Glass' memoir thankfully doesn't follow his trademark repetitive style. Instead he has produced a really wonderful account of his life, specifically focussing on his early years. We follow him from childhood, through his early music lessons, to Juilliard, to Paris, to India, and beyond. His sheer dedication to becoming a great composer is inspiring.
However, the memoir is slightly off-kilter. The book is just shy of 400-pages, and yet his chapter on his first major masterpiece, Einstein on the Beach, does not come until page 283 - almost at the final quarter. You see Glass spends a lot of time discussing his great musical education but then decides not to actually discuss the great works that he would go on to produce. In fact, all of the discussion of his actual music is relegated to the final hundred pages. Everything from Einstein to now, in one hundred pages.
The absences are glaring. There is no mention of Glassworks for example, apart from a single sentence on its commission. In The Upper Room, Dance, Songs from Liquid Days, and Dracula don't get a single mention. Almost criminally, there is also no word on Metamorphosis, Mad Rush or any of his Etudes, which are by far his most popular works.
I understand that if he did actually discuss all of his major works, the book would have been a behemoth. But strangely he decides to dedicate a whole chapter, the final chapter, to his Cocteau Trilogy, which I doubt anyone would refute my saying are very much minor works within his oeuvre. I feel he just needed someone beside him as he was writing to say to him, 'this is all well and good Phil but how about you write about some of your famous ones?'
However, I do think I am expecting too much. Glass has had an amazing life, peppered with wonderful people and stories. I shall decide to take those stories with me. I guess I'll just have to ask Glass myself about In the Upper Room.
Glass' memoir thankfully doesn't follow his trademark repetitive style. Instead he has produced a really wonderful account of his life, specifically focussing on his early years. We follow him from childhood, through his early music lessons, to Juilliard, to Paris, to India, and beyond. His sheer dedication to becoming a great composer is inspiring.
However, the memoir is slightly off-kilter. The book is just shy of 400-pages, and yet his chapter on his first major masterpiece, Einstein on the Beach, does not come until page 283 - almost at the final quarter. You see Glass spends a lot of time discussing his great musical education but then decides not to actually discuss the great works that he would go on to produce. In fact, all of the discussion of his actual music is relegated to the final hundred pages. Everything from Einstein to now, in one hundred pages.
The absences are glaring. There is no mention of Glassworks for example, apart from a single sentence on its commission. In The Upper Room, Dance, Songs from Liquid Days, and Dracula don't get a single mention. Almost criminally, there is also no word on Metamorphosis, Mad Rush or any of his Etudes, which are by far his most popular works.
I understand that if he did actually discuss all of his major works, the book would have been a behemoth. But strangely he decides to dedicate a whole chapter, the final chapter, to his Cocteau Trilogy, which I doubt anyone would refute my saying are very much minor works within his oeuvre. I feel he just needed someone beside him as he was writing to say to him, 'this is all well and good Phil but how about you write about some of your famous ones?'
However, I do think I am expecting too much. Glass has had an amazing life, peppered with wonderful people and stories. I shall decide to take those stories with me. I guess I'll just have to ask Glass myself about In the Upper Room.
kfan's review against another edition
3.0
Reread 2022. Picked this up at the library me, went to add it here, and saw I had already read it! I have absolutely no memory of reading it and none of it felt familiar this time through. Still like it though! This time I was really struck by his transparency around his day jobs, which lasted into his 40s, even past Einstein on the Beach. There was no plan b, he had to work and he had to make music. I’m into it.
A chronological autobiography about his childhood, experience at Julliard and later musical education, and then broad overview of his career and the various mentors and religious experiences he had along the way. I went into this hoping for insight into his artistic process and his philosophy of creativity and there's a bit of that, but not much, it's mostly where he went and who he met and what he did. Told very engagingly! But still.
He lets himself off the hook incredibly gently for the dissolution of his first marriage, and mentions his 2nd and 4th wives not at all. But the chapter on Candy Jernigan, his 3rd wife, was very touching.
The final chapter is a departure--a series of disconnected, non-chronological memories, separated by a repeated refrain. It's weird and cool and incredibly moving and finally you're like THIS IS A PHILIP GLASS MEMOIR but then it's over.
A chronological autobiography about his childhood, experience at Julliard and later musical education, and then broad overview of his career and the various mentors and religious experiences he had along the way. I went into this hoping for insight into his artistic process and his philosophy of creativity and there's a bit of that, but not much, it's mostly where he went and who he met and what he did. Told very engagingly! But still.
He lets himself off the hook incredibly gently for the dissolution of his first marriage, and mentions his 2nd and 4th wives not at all. But the chapter on Candy Jernigan, his 3rd wife, was very touching.
The final chapter is a departure--a series of disconnected, non-chronological memories, separated by a repeated refrain. It's weird and cool and incredibly moving and finally you're like THIS IS A PHILIP GLASS MEMOIR but then it's over.
5easypieces's review against another edition
2.0
This was...fine, I suppose. For one of my favorite composers, and certainly one of the most important (American) composers of the 20th Century, I was hoping for more. As other reviewers have noted, he doesn't really get into any of the work that everyone knows until well over halfway through the book. Which could be okay, but it doesn't ever feel like he establishes a through line from his early days to the later work that would make learning about his youth valuable. The subject matter and corresponding details are also kind of all over the place; I learned as much about how he and Candy Jernigan made the down payment on their first apartment together as I did about the score for Koyaanisqatsi. There are moments of wonderful abstraction and introspection (particularly in the closing chapter) scattered throughout the book that create a frustrating sense of the book this might have been.