Product Description

Includes lectures, essays, diaries and other writings, including How to Improve the World (You Will Only Make Matters Worse) and Juilliard Lecture.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #416566 in Books
• Published on: 1967-05-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 179 pages

Review
"This book is so rich in ideas relevant to all sorts of artistic, philosophical, and social endeavors, that I doubt if any open-minded and intelligent person would not be challenged [by] this compendium of provocative aphorisms, intellectual absurdities, and formulations so original they will doubtlessly make sense to some, nonsense to others"--Richard Kostelanetz, Denver Quarterly

"Our first and best all-American dadaist... and his prose style is the finest since Gertrude Stein."-- The Kirkus Reviews

"A Year from Monday is a mosaic whose part and whose whole are the same thing...and you had better not miss both the forest and the trees; and you better not worry about mixed metaphor along the way." --Martin Last, WBAI - FM, New York City

"Cage's writings does not tell us what to think as much as it makes us think I a particular way... cage demonstrates in an unpretentious, subtle ad forceful way the profound spiritual basis of avante-garde art."--American Scholar

From the Publisher
7 x 8 1/4 trim. 6 facs. LC 67-24105

About the Author
Composer, author, and philosopher, JOHN CAGE was born in Los Angeles in 1912 and by the age of 37 had been recognized by the American Academy of Arts and Letters for having extended the boundaries of music. Cage composed hundreds of works in his career, many depending on chance procedures for their structure and performance. His books include Silence(1961), A Year from Monday(1967), M(1973), Empty woods(1979), X(1983), MUSICAGE(1996), and I-VI(1997). John Cage died in 1992 at the age of 79.

Customer Reviews

or: today(?)
Yes.

The second collection of John Cage's writings to appear (after Silence), A year From Monday is indispensable to anyone wishing to have more than a passing understanding of Cage's work and thought. In usual Cage fashion, the lectures, essays, "diaries," anecdotes, and assorted miscellanea jump off the page - utilizing an increasingly diverse array of typefaces and sizes, the writings contained here blaze the trail that leads to the mesostics and other verbal experiments that characterize the remainder of Cage's literary work beginning with M: Writings '67-'72.

Including, amongst numerous other gems, the "Two Statements on Ives," "26 Statements re Duchamp," "Jasper Johns: Stories and Ideas," the "Julliard Lecture," "Lecture on Commitment," and a collection of personal reminiscences/Zen riddles entitled "How to Pass, Kick, Fall, and Run," A Year From Monday contains an overflow of priceless Cageisms.

Beginning with an unforgettable cover (three slightly-overlapping photos of Cage's face, the first serious, the second beginning to open up, the third in full cackle) and never slowing down, the collection demonstrates perfectly Cage's relevance to musicians firstly, and thinkers finally. From one of the most significant and influential composers of the 20th century, A year From Monday demonstrates the originality, openness, and precision of thought that make Cage relevant to a much broader audience than simply the avante-garde musician.

Very Interesting
I find his book very interesting and informative in many ways. Most of it is very difficult to read because 1. John Cage is extremely intellectual, and 2. He is very avan garde, so some of the formats in which he writes in can be very complicated. I enjoy it being complicated though because there is something you can always figure out about it or just look into very closely. My favorite subject of this book are his journal/diary entries. They include entries of him away at master classes and the things that he talks about are humorous, great to know, and interesting to think about. I recommend this selection of John Cage highly.