<p>Could anyone recommend a good book for a young man (my son, 18 yo) who really loves music (he doesn’t play an instrument but more of a “music appreciator”, knows tons about all different genres and music history and can talk about it all non-stop in the language pretty suitable for a music critic).</p>
<p>We call him a hippie due to his embrace of the non-confrontational, laid back approach to life which sometimes can become a subject of very heated debates and discussions at home as he is adamantly against competition and can’t stand the whole success and ambition and stress driven culture we live in. When he was named a National Merit Scholarship Finalist, his main concern was not having to go to the school’s board meeting because it was going to be “formal, boring and pretentious” - you get the picture…</p>
<p>Just putting these details out there to give you more information and may be that will bring up some good ideas about the books.</p>
<p>He used to read a lot but not anymore unfortunately so the book has to capture his attention.</p>
<p>Why am I even asking about this? I guess because I am this crazy mom who can’t bare a thought that her child has lost enjoyment in getting immersed in a good book. </p>
<p>Any book suggestions are very much appreciated.</p>
<p>Emily.</p>
<p>Books by John Green are generally really good. They have an interesting plot and, at the same time, make the reader think. Some of his best works are “An Abundance of Katherines” and “Looking for Alaska”. These books don’t really incorporate music too much, but they’re great reads.</p>
<p>Can’t think of a book but would he appreciate a subscription (online or virtual) to The New Yorker so he can read Sasha Frere-Jones’ column on music?</p>
<p>Great suggestions so far, I will be looking into all of them! Please keep them coming. We do have a subscription to Rolling Stone magazine.</p>
<p>EmeraldKity, I am very intrigued by the book you suggested. Reminds me that I totally omitted to say that my son is also very interested in psychology/sociology aspect of things. He’s been obsessed with Myers-Brigs for a few months now so your recommendation sounds doubly interesting. And I noticed that the older I get, the more I am drawn to non-fiction books…</p>
<p>I have a cousin who is a composer and studied under Harry Partch. I remember stories he told of their collaboration and he was quite the character. He was not mainstream and there are biographies written about his life that your son might find interesting based on his music background. Below is something I copied:</p>
<p>Harry Partch (1901-1974), one of the greatest and most individualistic composers of all time, was not only a great composer, but an innovative theorist who broke through the shackles of many centuries of one tuning system for all of Western music, a music instrument inventor who created dozens of incredible instruments for the performance of his music, and a musical dramatist who created his own texts and dance/theatre extravaganzas based on everything from Greek mythology to his own experiences as a hobo. Between 1930 and 1972, he created one of the most amazing bodies of sensually alluring and emotionally powerful music of the 20th century: music dramas, dance theater, multi-media extravaganzas, vocal music and chamber music—mostly all performed on the instruments he built himself.
With parents who were former missionaries to China, living in isolated areas of the American southwest, Partch, as a child, was exposed to a variety of influences from Asian to Native American. After dropping out of the University of Southern California, he began to study on his own and to question the tuning and philosophical foundations of Western music. During and after the Great Depression, he was a hobo and itinerant worker and rode the trains, keeping a musical notebook of his experiences, which he later set to music. </p>
<p>In 1930 Partch broke with Western European tradition and forged a new music based on a more primal, corporeal integration of the elements of speech with music, using principles of natural acoustic resonance (just intonation) and expanded melodic and harmonic possibilities. He began to first adapt guitars and violas to play his music, and then began to build new instruments in a new microtonal tuning system. He built over 25 instruments, plus numerous small hand instruments, and became a brilliant spokesman for his ideas. Largely ignored by the standard musical institutions during his lifetime, he criticized concert traditions, the roles of the performer and composer, the role of music in society, the 12-tone equal-temperament scale and the concept of “pure” or abstract music. To explain his philosophical and intonational ideas, he wrote a treatise, Genesis of a Music, which has served as a primary source of information and inspiration to many musicians for the last half century.</p>
<p>Huge thanks everyone! Great suggestions and an amazing story ECMotherx2!!</p>
<p>How about: [How</a> Music Works: David Byrne: 9781936365531: Amazon.com: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936365537]How”>http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936365537)</p>