Discover Most Popular Audiobooks in Arts & Entertainment, Music

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Title: Imagine

Subtitle: A Selection from Pete Seeger: The Storm King

Author: Pete Seeger, Jeff Haynes (editor)

Narrator: Pete Seeger, Will Ackerman (performer), Heidi Breyer (performer), Rob Scheps (performer), Ghail Rhodes Benjamin (performer)

Format: Original Recording

Length: 4 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-07-14

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

Will Ackerman and Heidi Breyer's composition sets the stage as Pete Seeger recites Jeff Haynes' poem about the Underground Railroad.

This single is part of the ongoing project called Pete Seeger: The Storm King - an audio collection presenting Seeger's spoken words as he captivatingly recounts his most engaging stories, narratives, and poem - set to new music, produced by world-renowned percussionist/producer Jeff Haynes, from over 50 musicians from traditions as diverse as African Music, Blues, Bluegrass, Classical Guitar, Folk, Jazz, Native American Music, and World Beat.

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Title: Talking Drum

Subtitle: A Selection from Pete Seeger: The Storm King

Author: Pete Seeger, Jeff Haynes (editor)

Narrator: Pete Seeger, Samite Mulondo (performer), Tony Cedras (performer)

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-06-14

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

African music sets the stage as Pete describes his travels around the world and the complex communication that takes place in a small African village using the talking drum.

This single is part of the ongoing project called Pete Seeger: The Storm King - an audio collection presenting Seeger's spoken words as he captivatingly recounts his most engaging stories, narratives, and poems - set to new music, produced by world-renowned percussionist/producer Jeff Haynes, from over 50 musicians from traditions as diverse as African Music, Blues, Bluegrass, Classical Guitar, Folk, Jazz, Native American Music, and World Beat.

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Title: Home Grown

Subtitle: Cage the Elephant and the Making of a Modern Music Scene

Author: Craig Fehrman

Narrator: Rex Anderson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 56 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-23-14

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 2 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

Cage the Elephant has toured the globe, sold hundreds of thousands of albums, and become, in Rolling Stones words, one of rocks best young bands. Before any of that, though, Cage was just five guys from Bowling Green, a small town in southern Kentucky.

In Home Grown, Craig Fehrman secured Almost Famous-levels of access to tell the story of Cages rise. But along the way he discovered an even bigger story - how a tiny, overlooked place like Bowling Green had itself become one of the most vibrant music scenes in the country. Through vivid storytelling and exclusive details, Home Grown traces the history of Cage, from the band forming in high school to hanging with the Foo Fighters. But the Single also explores how and why Cage keeps coming home. Youll meet the characters and locations that make up Bowling Greens scene: the music-first dive bar where Cage got its start; the creaky, Pirate-themed house where artists gather to jam; the radio DJ who sacrificed everything to play local music - plus a slew of exciting young bands, all in different stages of their careers. How does a music scene work, especially in a place most people assume doesnt even have a music scene?

Home Grown has the answers, and it makes a great read for music fans - or for anyone who grew up in a place like Bowling Green. Craig Fehrman is a writer who lives in Indiana. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Republic, and Slate, among others.

Members Reviews:

Smart, detailed, and fun

This is a terrific piece of journalism. If you're interested in Cage the Elephant, you should read this: there isn't a better profile of them anywhere else. If you're interested in the city of Bowling Green, then you should read this: you'll meet dj's and bar owners, townies and newcomers, and you'll learn about the city's history and changing character. And if you're just interested in music, then you should read this, too: it gives you a real sense for what kind of rock music is out there now and why it matters so much to so many people.

Well played

Just finished. Well done. I lived in BG in 2004ish-2005ish... It's good to read that a lot of familiar names and places are still going. Spent many a penny pitcher night at Tidball's. I wonder if Jared's folks still have the piano upstairs. Definitely rocked that thing one time back in the day. It's also cool that Joel is still working with those guys. Figured he'd strictly be a rap engineer by now. Well done, Craig Fehrman. Can't wait to get a hard copy whenever it happens.

Interesting portrait of a band and their hometown

Fehrman gives a methodical, mellow and thoughtful study of a band that is raucous, loud and brash both musically and in performances. Navigating the stomping grounds and characters that fostered Cage the Elephant, Home Grown gives you a native's view of the local culture they have stimulated in their rise to rock fame.

By focusing on the band's genesis in Bowling Green, a drive-thru town that seems unremarkable at first (and maybe second and third) glance, Fehrman draws out and examines the crucial elements that make up a truly great local music scene.

Great book if you are interested in music, Cage the Elephant, or Bowling Green, Kentucky. Hey - it's a great book.

Bought the book because I knew the author a few years back. He does not disappoint.

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Title: The King and I: How Elvis Shaped My Life

Author: Harry Mount

Narrator: Nicholas Camm

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 18 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-03-14

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

The King and I tells the story of Harry Mount's fixation with Elvis over 35 years; how it changed from mild interest as a child, via self-mocking adolescent fandom to full-blown obsession at university, before settling into relatively sane reverence today. What happens to our teenage obsessions when we grow up? How do they help - or harm - us? In this moving, funny memoir, Harry Mount reveals how Elvis released him from the bookish shyness of his sheltered childhood, and provided a magical escape route from his conventional, cloistered public school background.

Members Reviews:

Everyone Has A Story About Elvis

Everyone has a story about Elvis. For a fair amount of people, it's a song they danced to or a family member who is a fan; something casual. For those closer to him in life, it's tell-alls and intimate moments. For those who are fans, it's how Elvis has affected them individually. Most people wouldn't be as eloquent as Harry Mount is in his recounting of his life and its crossing paths with being an Elvis fan; indeed, Elvis Facebook groups and web forums are filled with as many people who can barely communicate anything more than "Elvis lives!" as they are with fans who know the ins and outs of every album, movie, TV show, concert and book and are able to reflect on Elvis' career and impacts on world culture.

Another reviewer asks "why Elvis has continued to be popular decades after his death" and looks to Mount's single for a potential answer. Believe it or not, the answer is there, but most people will miss it (including said reviewer) in light of the autobiographical nature of the book. It's a single line near the end: "He is a singer of great talent, whose music I like listening to â no more, no less." It's the understatement of the century, but reveals the ultimate undying truth about Elvis: peel the layers off the hype, celebrity fixations, obsessions, tacky product lines, marketing, media, punchlines, trivia and insiders, separate it from everything that came before and came after... and you will find yourself with an astonishingly talented singer and entertainer. And that's why Elvis continues to be popular decades after his death. The music.

Five Stars

Good book.I

A Tepid Obsession

A classmate of Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, upper class Londoner, ex-banker and ex-barrister, aged six when Elvis Presley died, Harry Mount is a somewhat unlikely Elvis fan.

I have been wondering lately, why Elvis has continued to be popular decades after his death, while someone like Liberace, for instance, fades in popularity as soon as they die. Perhaps Harry Mount's experience might enlighten me.

Mount explains how he came to be an Elvis fan as a boy and continued to be fascinated by the star even to this day. He tries to make himself out to be a rabid fan, but somehow doesn't convince. A trip to Graceland during a visit to the United States and the occasional YouTube binge don't seem to add up to anything exceptional.

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Title: The Gutbucket King

Author: Barry Yeoman

Narrator: Rob Cleveland

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-02-14

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

In the 1950s, at the age of 14, Little Freddie King hopped a southbound freight train in McComb, Mississippi, fleeing the life of a sharecroppers son in what was then the "worst part of the most intransigent state" in Jim Crow-era Dixie. Landing in New Orleans, he taught himself to play blues guitar, then found work performing at the citys corner nightclubs, including one nicknamed the Bucket of Blood for its nightly eruptions of violence. Dodging bullets and drinking with abandon, he became a fixture in the subterranean blues scene. He played a time-breaking, low-down style of blues borne of a life of struggle, and followed a self-destructive course that ensured he never ran out of material. That is, until one drunken night, when his knife-wielding wife attacked him in a jealous rage, one of several brushes with tragedy that would change his life forever.

Barry Yeoman, an award-winning journalist who began his career as a newspaper reporter in South Louisiana, first met King while making the 2009 radio documentary Still Singing the Blues. Since then, Yeoman has spent dozens of hours interviewing the bluesman, his friends and family. The result is an intimate and colorful portrait of one of New Orleans cultural treasures. Yeoman chronicles Kings journey from picking cotton in rural Mississippi to playing guitar on some of the worlds biggest stages, from spirit-seeing teenager who arrived in New Orleans with "not nary a copper cent" in his bib overalls to a self-effacing septuagenarian at the peak of his musical career - and one of the Crescent Citys last great country bluesmen. Its a story about music, migration, race, faith, and resilience, and about the deepest of the Deep South during seven decades of profound upheaval.

Members Reviews:

A wonderful piece of storytelling

"After a lifetime of struggle, he is at the peak of his career," Barry Yeoman writes near the start of this short e-book, which explores the rise of the bluesman Little Freddie King. And if you're looking to find out how King ascended to that peak, there's no better purchase than "The Gutbucket King." Beautifully-written, deftly-plotted, and alternately tragic and ribald and darkly hilarious, "The Gutbucket King" is the kind of music writing that will stand the test of time. Highly recommended.

Last note: At the risk of inciting the wrath of the Amazon gods, you may be better off purchasing the multimedia version â that way you can listen to Freddie while you read about him.

Longform journalism at its best

The images are indelible: Young Freddie making his first guitar out of a wooden cigar box and a pine board torn from a picket fence. Teenage Freddie crouched, waiting for an open boxcar to make his escape from a brutal and segregated McComb, Mississippi -- what Bob Moses called "the worst part of the most intransigent state" in the South. Little Freddie King on his back, muddy boots up in the air, with clods falling down on a borrowed guitar, as the guitar's owner looked on in consternation and Freddie played "I Believe My Time Ain't Long."

What I love about Barry Yeoman's writing is that it doesn't matter what the subject is (nor how dark it is), what my knowledge level of the subject is, what kind of mood I'm in when I start to read it: I leave Barry's writing feeling enlightened.

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Title: Michael Jackson: The Afterlife Experiences

Subtitle: A Theology of Michael Jackson's Life and Lyrics

Author: Marilynn Hughes

Narrator: Marilynn Hughes

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-14-13

Publisher: The Out-of-Body Travel Foundation!

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

The afterlife experiences of Michael Jackson in the months following his death follow an unexpected and exciting path. Michael Jackson's afterlife journey becomes surprisingly relevant to all of us in our own individual understanding of our own human lives and the spiritual journey underlying our every breath.

Michael Jackson shares a modern day rendering of an ancient tradition of the spiritual path in its triumph, torture and its tumultuous end. And his journey mirrors ancient mystical journeys into the world beyond, bringing to light a modern day rendering of the afterlife passage. But Michael Jackson's afterlife experiences offer the TRUE Victory Tour - in the world beyond - the afterlife of Michael Jackson.

"You are not real, Death, for I die every minute and am reborn in the next into life infinite." (The Book of Angelus Silesius - 17th Century Zen Poet)

Members Reviews:

MJ Lyrics as Scripture?

Maybe not.

But the author argues a fascinating case for it. The book's worth a listen although I think part one is entirely 2 hours too long. Much of it is the author's redundant recitation of MJ lyrics and album credits.

The author borrows from other scriptures--from the New Testament to "The Prophet" to Rumi and Yogananda--to put forth a new theology embracing world peace and human dignity, based on what MJ showed her after his death. One a-ha moment arises when she suggests demonic spirits are sometimes present in tempting man into sinning, recalling the fall of man in Genesis 3. It makes you wonder if some of our trials might have occurred through active suggestion, rather than innate desire. Also, the afterlife stories (i.e., the creative source of MJ's music) as colorful as they sound, could not be proven requiring a hefty and continual suspension of belief from the reader. The author states that fact early in the book.

Definitely worth a listen. An open mind and familiarity of MJ's life (i.e., J. Taraborrelli's "Magic and the Madness;" MJ's "Moonwalk") and music (esp. songs from the "Dangerous" and "HIStory" albums) is required. And a taste for afterlife stories (Sylvia Browne, George Anderson, James Van Praagh, etc.) wouldn't hurt, either. :)

Interesting,Deep,Beautiful

Interesting..

Different in the way the Author incorporates other books and material referenced during the story of her experience that expands and connects us with the core story also..

A lovely positive listen

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Title: Michael Jackson: The Afterlife Experiences II

Subtitle: Michael Jackson's American Dream to Heal the World

Author: Marilynn Hughes

Narrator: Marilynn Hughes

Format: Unabridged

Length: 2 hrs and 58 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-14-13

Publisher: The Out-of-Body Travel Foundation!

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

The afterlife experiences of Michael Jackson re-emerge five months after his death into an even more unexpected and profoundly exciting path. Get to know a different Michael Jackson, the part of Michael Jackson that wanted to 'Heal the World' and founded 'Heal the Kids.' Get to know the Michael Jackson who has emerged from the afterlife again after spending several months under the tutelage of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This is not what you're expecting, but rather, the afterlife Michael Jackson ramped up by several thousand amps. Starring in his first supporting role - Michael Jackson willingly steps aside in the afterlife to make way for the message of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to step forward and restate the Gospel in a modern and 'in your face' way. This audiobook is not for those who are afraid of self-confrontation, it's for those who really want to accomplish what they were put on this earth to do before they have to cross into the afterlife. It's for those who are willing to set aside the common hindrances that keep us from making this world a 'better place for you and for me and the entire human race.' This really IS it, and Michael Jackson has come to state the fundamental truths he has learned in the afterlife which we all need to re-embrace in order to heal the world by making our individual lives what God has meant them to be.

Members Reviews:

Very Comforting

I loved this book and it helped to bring closure for me. I have been a fan of Michael Jackson's since he was 8 years old. His death hit me very very hard. I found this book was Michael's way of telling his millions of fans, that he is okay and now at peace. We all need an open mind. I truly believe that Michael was touched by God in his life and this makes perfect sense that Michael would communicate to us this way. Michael's message was one of love, kindness, and believing in God 's love.

My heart is still broken, but my soul knows he is singing now with the angels

ZERO STARS

This book is extremely misleading and poorly written (have fun trying to count all the grammatical errors). Michael Jackson fans -- BEWARE! This author uses large type and "fills" the book with lyrics from some of MJ's songs (which most everyone already knows by heart), in addition to various spiritual quotes. Amidst all this filler is the main point of the book which is to discuss this author's religious beliefs. Occasionally, the reader is told about something vague and questionable about her conversations/experiences with MJ on the other side (him flying in the galaxy or picking flowers). The most perplexing thing about this book is that, for some reason, the author was needed to "assist" MJ in his transition despite the fact that Jesus Christ himself makes an appearance with MJ and seems to have things under control (sigh). This book gives very little insight into MJ's passing but rather is intent on impressing on the reader the author's belief that life (here and after death) is difficult and full of suffering because, according to ancient religious beliefs, such sundry bad things are purifying and beneficial for us all (sigh again). MJ fans, Michael would not want you to waste your money on this rubbish like I did.

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Title: 'On My Way'

Subtitle: The Untold Story of Rouben Mamoulian, George Gershwin, and Porgy and Bess

Author: Joseph Horowitz

Narrator: Stephen Bel Davies

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-08-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 2 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

A revelatory history of the operatic masterpiece that both made and destroyed Rouben Mamoulian, its director and unsung hero. "Bring my goat!" Porgy exclaims in the final scene of Gershwins opera Porgy and Bess. Bess, whom he loves, has left for New York City, and hes determined to find her. When his request is met with astonishment - New York is a great distance from South Carolinas Catfish Row - Porgy remains undaunted. He mounts his goat-cart and leads the community in an ecstatic finale, "Oh Lawd, Im on my way."

Stephen Sondheim has called "Bring my goat!" "one of the most moving moments in musical theater history." For years it was assumed that DuBose Heyward - the author of the seminal novella and subsequent play, Porgy, and later the librettist for the opera Porgy and Bess - penned this historic line. In fact, both it and "Oh Lawd, I'm on my way" were added to the play eight years earlier by that productions unheralded architect: Rouben Mamoulian.

Porgy and Bess as we know it would not exist without the contributions of this master director. Culling new information from the recently opened Mamoulian Archives at the Library of Congress, award-winning author Joseph Horowitz shows that, more than anyone else, Mamoulian took Heyward's vignette of a regional African-American subculture and transformed it into an epic theater work, a universal parable of suffering and redemption. Part biography, part revelatory history, On My Way re-creates Mamoulian's visionary style on stage and screen, his collaboration with George Gershwin, and the genesis of the opera that changed the face of American musical life.

Members Reviews:

Rouben Mamoulin Gets Credit!!!

This is great story of the history of Porgy and Bess and all who were part of that

original production.

The author gives much credit to the director Rouben Mamoulin and his part in the growth of the production from its early stages as a play to its rise as a full operatic production.

This is a good history on the history of African-American performers and their

struggles as serious performers of opera

and theater performers.

The author continues with the later troubled film version of the work.

The director is the star of this book.

Heartbreaker

Sounded like it would be thrilling but it was really very few facts and points of view that are repeated endlessly.

The only truly worthwhile aspect was to have the entire "sound" opening of Act 3 transcribed.

Needed more Mamoulian and less Gershwin. Anyone who would buy this book

is likely to know EVERYTHING that he writes about Gershwin. wait until the price is very low and only if you are really interested.

Fascinating

Wonderful book about Mamoulian, Broadway, Hollywood, many notable characters and, of course, Gershwin. It may need some careful editing in that it becomes quite redundant at times, but I recommend it for fans of Gershwin and "Porgy" in particular.

A New Perspactive

Somewhat academic but fascinatingly detailed slant on the Mamoulian/Gershwin connection and collaboration as well as insights into their separate careers and impacts on American theatre and music.

A bit too academic for my taste

âOn My Wayâ: the Untold Story of Rouben Mamoulian, George Gershwin, and Porgy and Bessâ is a curious book.

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Title: Deflowered

Subtitle: My Life in Pansy Division

Author: Jon Ginoli

Narrator: Jon Ginoli

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-28-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

"We're the buttf--kers of rock-and-roll, We want to sock it to your hole!" With these words written in a notebook, Jon Ginoli sets off on a journey of self-discovery and musical passion to become the founding member of Pansy Division, the first out and proud queercore punk rock band to hit the semi-big time. Set against the changing decades of music, we follow the band from their inception in San Francisco, to their search for a music label and a permanent drummer to their current status as indie rock icons. We see the highs - touring with Green Day - and the lows - homophobic fans - of striving for acceptance and success in the world of rock. Replete with the requisite tales of sex, drugs, groupies, band fights and label battles, this rollicking memoir is also an impassioned account of staying true to the artistic vision of queer rock'n'roll.

Members Reviews:

A GREAT Read

How many people really get to live their dream? Jon and his bandmates sure do, and their dream was not necessarily to get wealthy or famous. This fascinating and amusing tale gives you a look at their real accomplishment, to make a true honest living, being who they want to be, against tremendous pressures of all sorts.

It is a great inspiration - to succeed according to your own measure and to have a hell of a great time doing it. I've rediscovered their music and picked up their new stuff, and I must say the music and this book never fail to delight. Jon and company are heroes to more people than they will ever know.

You will love this book. I sure did.

A band for the ages.

Pansy Division was a groundbreaking band. This is the story of how they got there. Engaging and informative. As a fan, it was great seeing where their heads were while creating a band for the ages.

Good docu-account but lacking in related details

Basic account of one members view of the development of the band. Could have used more personal details of the tribulations if his liaisons along the way, since the mantra is so in-your-face pro homo. Where is the real life graphic detail to match all the graphic bravado constantly wailed in all of your music???

The story behind some of my favorite songs

I enjoyed Ginoli's story about one of my favorite bands from the 90's. I still giggle like a little boy at some of their sillier songs and am moved by others. Thanks for the music.

A wild, pink ride!

A good memoir delivers a sharp writing style, a compelling tell-all story, and a clear theme, and I'm delighted to say Deflowered: My Life in Pansy Division brings them all with a fiery pink vengeance.

For the uninitiated, Pansy Division was a pop-punk band founded by Jon Ginoli that, along with acts like Tribe-8 and Fifth Column, comprised the musical part of the homocore movement of the 1980s and 90s.

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Title: Encounter

Author: Milan Kundera

Narrator: Graeme Malcolm

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-26-13

Publisher: Canongate Faber

Genres: Arts & Entertainment, Music

Publisher's Summary:

Milan Kundera's brilliant collection of essays is a passionate defence of art in an era that, he argues, no longer values art or beauty. With the same dazzling mix of emotion and ideas that characterises his best-selling novels, the internationally acclaimed author revisits the artists whose works help us better understand what it means to be human.

Elegant, startlingly original, and provocative, Encounter combines many of the author's signature themes with personal reflections and stories.

Members Reviews:

the insights of kundera

kunderaâs style reminds me of the work of montaigne, the man who contemplated and developed his opinions of what interested him into what, thanks to him, has become known as the essay. to begin with a thought, to jot down an insight while itâs fresh, thereâs a rawness about that, ripeness is not always all. with their kafkaesque sensibility and more accessible than nietzscheâs aphorisms, kunderaâs brief pieces do share such company.

born in czechoslovakia, as a writer kundera experienced his country invaded by the soviets in 1968, a shock to the western world who watched the advent of some of the new art scene in 1964 at the worldâs fair in new york at the czechoslovakian pavilion. a published novelist, kundera settled in exile in france in 1975 where he continues to write. he purports to be a french writer writing of czech experiences. the thought central to his essays is the encounter of two cultures to form an identity or solidarity.

in discussing the right of writers to choose their own forms, here are some of the authors, novels and observations subject of his essays: the spirit of the odd novel by rabelais is more meaningful in translation to czech readers than to contemporary french readers; the anti-novel, written by carlos fuentes and curzio malaparte, which kundera champions as the arch-novel; an insightful placing the fiction of philip roth, who continues to remind the press he is an american novelist who writes of jews and not a jewish novelist, within the literary history of sex and love in the novel; aime cesaire and other martinique born artists and the important encounter which occurred between them and the artists of the french surrealist movement; and of laughter, the different forms of laughter in a work by dostoievski and the right of the artist to depict laughter in a work under a harsh regime. other writings highlight musicians, beethoven, schoenberg, and xenakis, among them, and a psychological observation of a painting by francis bacon with a reflection of an incident told by kundera of an encounter with a friend, a woman, interrogated in czechoslovakia.

his devotion to the freedom of the artist and defense of artistic form outside traditionally accepted notions of what a novel, in general, is expected to be, plot driven with characters engaged, is best expressed in his description of modernism as he refers to the novels by malaparte: ââthere are many great novels that, at their birth, are unlike the commonly held idea of the novel. And so? Isnât a great novel great precisely because it does not repeat what already existed? â And I find it significant that everything about THE SKINâS form that seems to contradict the very idea of the novel should also reflect the new climate in the aesthetic of the novel as it took shape in the twentieth century, in contrast to its norms in the century before.