The Musical Novel

The Musical Novel
Author: Emily Petermann
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2014
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1571135928

Analyzes two groups of "musical novels" -- novels that take music as a model for their construction -- including jazz novels by Toni Morrison and Michael Ondaatje, and novels based on Bach's Goldberg Variations. What is a "musical novel"? This book defines the genre as musical not primarily in terms of its content, but in its form. The musical novel crosses medial boundaries, aspiring to techniques, structures, and impressions similar tothose of music. It takes music as a model for its own construction, borrowing techniques and forms that range from immediately perceptible, essential aspects of music (rhythm, timbre, the simultaneity of multiple voices) to microstructural (jazz riffs, call and response, leitmotifs) and macrostructural elements (themes and variations, symphonies, albums). The musical novel also evokes the performance context by imitating elements of spontaneity that characterize improvised jazz or audience interaction. The Musical Novel builds upon theories of intermediality and semiotics to analyze the musical structures, forms, and techniques in two groups of musical novels, which serve as case studies. The first group imitates an entire musical genre and consists of jazz novels by Toni Morrison, Albert Murray, Xam Wilson Cartiér, Stanley Crouch, Jack Fuller, Michael Ondaatje, and Christian Gailly. The secondgroup of novels, by Richard Powers, Gabriel Josipovici, Rachel Cusk, Nancy Huston, and Thomas Bernhard, imitates a single piece of music, J. S. Bach's Goldberg Variations. Emily Petermann is Assistant Professor of American Literature at the University of Konstanz.

The Prom

The Prom
Author: Saundra Mitchell
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2020-12-08
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1984837540

Based on the musical that inspired the Netflix film starring Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Kerry Washington, Keegan-Michael Key, James Corden, Andrew Rannells, and Ariana DeBose! Emma Nolan and Alyssa Greene share the same goal: debut as a couple at their senior prom. Only a few things stand in their way—okay, maybe more than a few. For one, Alyssa hasn’t come out yet. It’s not that she doesn’t want to, but with a mother on the PTA who will stop at nothing to prevent same-sex couples from attending prom, it’s not a conversation she’s eager to have—with good reason. Before long, Mrs. Greene has the entire town backing her up, and it’s starting to look as though Emma and Alyssa won’t get their happily-ever-after. Then, out of the blue, two Broadway stars arrive on the scene to fight on the girls’ behalf (and get a little publicity along the way). But when their good intentions fall flat, it’s up to Emma and Alyssa to take matters into their own hands and show their small Indiana town—and the world—that love is love is love. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION Based on the musical that inspired the Netflix film starring Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Kerry Washington, Keegan-Michael Key, James Corden, Andrew Rannells, and Ariana DeBose! Emma Nolan and Alyssa Greene share the same goal: debut as a couple at their senior prom. Only a few things stand in their way—okay, maybe more than a few. For one, Alyssa hasn’t come out yet. It’s not that she doesn’t want to, but with a mother on the PTA who will stop at nothing to prevent same-sex couples from attending prom, it’s not a conversation she’s eager to have—with good reason. Before long, Mrs. Greene has the entire town backing her up, and it’s starting to look as though Emma and Alyssa won’t get their happily-ever-after. Then, out of the blue, two Broadway stars arrive on the scene to fight on the girls’ behalf (and get a little publicity along the way). But when their good intentions fall flat, it’s up to Emma and Alyssa to take matters into their own hands and show their small Indiana town—and the world—that love is love is love.

The Music Shop

The Music Shop
Author: Rachel Joyce
Publisher: Bond Street Books
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2017-11-07
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0385681240

A love story and a journey through music. The exquisite and perfectly pitched new novel from the bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect and The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy. It's 1988. The CD has arrived. Sales of the shiny new disks are soaring on high streets in cities across the England. Meanwhile, down a dead-end street, Frank's music shop stands small and brightly lit, jam-packed with records of every kind. It attracts the lonely, the sleepless, the adrift. There is room for everyone. Frank has a gift for finding his customers the music they need. Into this shop arrives Ilse Brauchmann--practical, brave, well-heeled. Frank falls for this curious woman who always dresses in green. But Ilse's reasons for visiting the shop are not what they seem. Frank's passion for Ilse seems as misguided as his determination to save vinyl. How can a man so in tune with other people's needs be so incapable of helping himself? And what will it take to show he loves her? The Music Shop is a story about good, ordinary people who take on forces too big for them. It's about falling in love and how hard it can be. And it's about music--how it can bring us together when we are divided and save us when all seems lost.

Frog Music

Frog Music
Author: Emma Donoghue
Publisher: Little, Brown
Total Pages: 402
Release: 2014-04-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0316324663

From the New York Times bestselling author of Room, a young French burlesque dancer living in San Francisco is ready to risk anything in order to solve her friend’s murder—but only if the killer doesn’t get her first. Summer of 1876: San Francisco is in the fierce grip of a record-breaking heat wave and a smallpox epidemic. Through the window of a railroad saloon, a young woman named Jenny Bonnet is shot dead. The survivor, her friend Blanche Beunon, is a French burlesque dancer. Over the next three days, she will risk everything to bring Jenny's murderer to justice—if he doesn't track her down first. The story Blanche struggles to piece together is one of free-love bohemians, desperate paupers, and arrogant millionaires; of jealous men, icy women, and damaged children. It's the secret life of Jenny herself, a notorious character who breaks the law every morning by getting dressed: a charmer as slippery as the frogs she hunts. In thrilling, cinematic style, Frog Music digs up a long-forgotten, never-solved crime. Full of songs that migrated across the world, Emma Donoghue's lyrical tale of love and bloodshed among lowlifes captures the pulse of a boomtown like no other. "Her greatest achievement yet . . . Emma Donoghue shows more than range with Frog Music—she shows genius." —Darin Strauss, author of Half a Life.

Musical Chairs

Musical Chairs
Author: Amy Poeppel
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 416
Release: 2021-04-13
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1501176420

"A novel about modern family life with all of its discord and harmony"--

How I Paid for College

How I Paid for College
Author: Marc Acito
Publisher: Crown
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2004-09-07
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0767919602

A deliciously funny romp of a novel about one overly theatrical and sexually confused New Jersey teenager’s larcenous quest for his acting school tuition It’s 1983 in Wallingford, New Jersey, a sleepy bedroom community outside of Manhattan. Seventeen-year-old Edward Zanni, a feckless Ferris Bueller–type, is Peter Panning his way through a carefree summer of magic and mischief. The fun comes to a halt, however, when Edward’s father remarries and refuses to pay for Edward to study acting at Juilliard. Edward’s truly in a bind. He’s ineligible for scholarships because his father earns too much. He’s unable to contact his mother because she’s somewhere in Peru trying to commune with Incan spirits. And, as a sure sign he’s destined for a life in the arts, Edward’s incapable of holding down a job. So he turns to his loyal (but immoral) misfit friends to help him steal the tuition money from his father, all the while practicing for his high school performance of Grease. Disguising themselves as nuns and priests, they merrily scheme their way through embezzlement, money laundering, identity theft, forgery, and blackmail. But, along the way, Edward also learns the value of friendship, hard work, and how you’re not really a man until you can beat up your father—metaphorically, that is. How I Paid for College is a farcical coming-of-age story that combines the first-person tone of David Sedaris with the byzantine plot twists of Armistead Maupin. It is a novel for anyone who has ever had a dream or a scheme, and it marks the introduction to an original and audacious talent.

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Road Trip

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Road Trip
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Publisher: Disney Electronic Content
Total Pages:
Release: 2021-05-04
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1368062016

Join everyone's favorite Wildcats from the Disney+ smash hit original series High school Musical: The Musical: The Series in this novel by New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz. On the heels of their wildly successful run of High School Musical, the gang learns of a can't-miss opportunity—a High School Musical convention in the next state. There's something for everyone: panels about mounting your next hit show, cafeteria-tray-dance workshops, Wildcat cosplay, and even a special appearance from the pooch who played Sharpay's dog (well, one of her puppies, that is). Ready to hit the road, the crew immediately begins making plans. Nini can't wait to use the weekend to show how much she cares for Ricky (especially since they just got back together). Kourtney debates signing up for a singing workshop (especially if she's maybe, just maybe, considering auditioning for the next show), and Gina and Ashlyn decide it'll be the perfect trial run for living together (especially because Gina has never actually had a friendship last this long). Carlos can't wait to help Miss Jenn prep for the spring musical, even if Seb has to stay behind to help with the family farm. But car breakdowns, late starts, and a lost E.J. throw a wrench in their plans. Will the East Highers get the weekend getaway of their dreams? Or will the bumps on the road get the better of them?

13

13
Author: Jason Robert Brown
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2008-07-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9780060787509

Almost thirteen-year-old Evan Goldman learns what it means to be a man when his parents separate and he and his mother move from New York City to Appleton, Indiana, right before his bar mitzvah.

Dear Evan Hansen

Dear Evan Hansen
Author: Val Emmich
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2018-10-09
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0316420220

From the show's creators comes the groundbreaking, bestselling novel inspired by the hit Broadway show Dear Evan Hansen. Dear Evan Hansen, Today's going to be an amazing day and here's why... When a letter that was never meant to be seen by anyone draws high school senior Evan Hansen into a family's griefover the loss of their son, he is given the chance of a lifetime: to belong. He just has to stick to a lie he never meant to tell, that the notoriously troubled Connor Murphy was his secret best friend. Suddenly, Evan isn't invisible anymore--even to the girl of his dreams. And Connor Murphy's parents, with their beautiful home on the other side of town, have taken him in like he was their own, desperate to know more about their enigmatic son from his closest friend.As Evan gets pulled deeper into their swirl of anger, regret, and confusion, he knows that what he's doing can't be right, but if he's helping people, how wrong can it be? No longer tangled in his once-incapacitating anxiety, this new Evan has a purpose. And a website. He's confident. He's a viral phenomenon. Every day is amazing. Until everything is in danger of unraveling and he comes face to face with his greatest obstacle: himself. A simple lie leads to complicated truths in this big-hearted coming-of-age story of grief, authenticity and the struggle to belong in an age of instant connectivity and profound isolation.

The Temple of Music

The Temple of Music
Author: Jonathan Lowy
Publisher: Broadway Books
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2005
Genre: Assassination
ISBN: 0307209849

America is starkly divided between the haves and the have-nots. A Republican president seeks reelection in the afterglow of a war many view as unnecessary and imperialisttic. He is bankrolled by millionaires, with every step of his career orchestrated by a political mastermind. Religious extremists crusade against the nation's moral collapse. Terrorists plot the assassination of leaders around the world. And a lonely, disturbed revolutionary stalks the President. . . . It all happened. One hundred years ago. It all comes to life in "The Temple of Music. A vivid, gripping historical novel of the Gilded Age, "The Temple of Music re-creates the larger-than-life characters and tempestuous events that rocked turn-of-the-century America. From battlefields to political backrooms, from romance to murder, "The Temple of Music tells the tales of robber barons, immigrants, yellow journalists, and anarchists, all centering on one of the most fascinating, mysterious, but little-explored events in American history: the assassination of President William McKinley by the disturbed anarchist Leon Czolgosz. "The Temple of Music brings to life the intrigues and passions, the hatreds and loves of a rich cast of real-life characters, including Emma Goldman, the passionate anarchist who forsakes her personal life to fight for workers' rights and free love; her imprisoned lover, the failed assassin Alexander Berkman; corrupt kingmaker "Dollar" Mark Hanna, whose fund-raising and strategizing foreshadowed how modern presidential campaigns would be run; William Jennings Bryan, the populist orator and chief political rival of McKinley; flamboyant newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst; self-appointedmorality czar Anthony Comstock; steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie; and Carnegie's iron-fisted manager, Henry Clay Frick. At the center of this tableau is William McKinley, the president, and Leon Czolgosz, his assassin. McKinley rises to the presidency almost by accident, floating on the money and political clout of Mark Hanna. Sober and unimaginative, McKinley's personal life is marked by drama and tragedy, the unstable wife he loves, and enemies he cannot imagine--chief among them, Leon Czolgosz, a lonely immigrant and factory worker who plots the most spectacular protest in an age of spectacular protests--McKinley's assassination at the 1901 Buffalo World's Fair. Sweeping in scope, "The Temple of Music is a rare literary achievement that intertwines history and fiction into an indelible tapestry of America at the dawn of the twentieth century. Praise for Jonathan Lowy's "Elvis and Nixon "Imaginative and often hilarious . . . Pop culture and recent history are hog-tied and transmogrified to smashing effect in Lowy's imaginative and often hilarious first novel. He moves among several storylines effortlessly, concocting a darkly comic melodrama the likes of which we haven't seen since The Manchurian Candidate."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "[A] high-flying first novel . . . darkly funny."--"New York Times Book Review "A snappy blend of fact and fiction."--"Time "Inventive, irreverent, and surreal."--"Houston Chronicle "[A] darkly humorous look at America under siege . . . A notable debut."--"Dallas Morning News "A dizzying blend of fact and fiction . . . A daring debut."--"Arizona Republic "There are a few words that fullydescribe Lowy's "Elvis and Nixon--bizarre, confusing, and enlightening, but also hard to put down."--"Richmond Times-Dispatch "A garishly readable romp."--"Kansas City Star "Entertaining . . . enigmatic."--"Los Angeles Times "A thoughtful and funny look at a nation that was becoming frayed at the edges and two men who were emblematic of that disarray."--"Denver Post "From the Hardcover edition.