Lies: A Diary 1986-1999
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Book Overview
This latest installment of Ned Rorem's diary opens in 1986, when the author is sixty-two, and closes in 1999, when he is seventy-five. Though Rorem remains as energetic as ever during these years -- new books written, new music composed -- the tone of this volume is autumnal: His life and his world are winding down. He mourns the passing of dear friends, endures the indignities of growing old, and notes with bitterness the collapse of the taste and standards that once defined his artistic circle. As AIDS becomes an epidemic, he traces its grim course through the gay community and through the discourse of the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton years. Lies is an anthology of forms, each entry a carefully chosen, brightly colored tile in a literary mosaic, with all that readers have come to expect from Rorem: erotic fantasies, gratuitous slights, aphorisms, indiscretions, program notes, puns, punditry, and beauty.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0306811065
ISBN13:9780306811067
Release Date:February 2002
Publisher:Da Capo Press
Length:448 Pages
Weight:1.40 lbs.
Dimensions:1.2" x 6.1" x 9.2"
Customer Reviews
2 ratings
Planet Earth's greatest diarist
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 20 years ago
I bitterly begrudge Ned for being one of those self-congratulatory artsy-fartsy types who are constantly blathering about Art with a capital "A". I hate that mentality. But that doesn't prevent me from being a Nedhead. My other complaint about Ned's prose is his refusal to provide English translations for the French quotes. For the benefit of us non-francophones. Ned's self-righteous proselytory pacifism is another thing that drives me up the goddam wall. It's a big fat boring blindspot and he excretes smugness whenever the subject of war comes up. Pacifism is a form of simplistic absolutism. And it's just as wrong-headed as any other form of absolutism. Including aesthetic absolutism. Which Ned has himself addressed: "Until an Absolute is established as to what defines 'good music', I will retain my right to call trash certain works of Beethoven: the Emperor, the Appassionata, the end of the Ninth."Let me commend Ned's heroic stoicism in regard to the illness & death of Jim Holmes. I was depressed to find out that Jim was every bit the atheist that Ned is. As usual, I blame God.
Necessary
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
Ned Rorem is our best diarist. Is there another one at present? I find myself dipping into this latest diary all the time. I love the gossip as much as the next fella, but it's the mini essays on any number of topics that I truly love. Elucidates the sad state of the composer and the song right now.
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