Attention all lovers of art-song, theoretical physics (a little), American
(and world) history from the 1930s to more recent times, and especially,
great fiction writing.  I strongly recommend an astonishing new novel
called The Time of Our Singing, by Richard Powers (the author of Gold
Bug Variations) that encompasses these topics.  Powers is an incredibly
gifted modern author who has been compared with Don DeLillo and others.
I read Gold Bug Variations twice, because I found it so enthralling.
This book is even better.  It concerns two gifted boys, brothers,  who
grow to young men (and beyond--confession, I'm only halfway through the
book)  The older brother is a brilliant lieder singer, the younger (from
whose point of view the book is told, for the most part) is a talented
pianist and accompanist to his brother.  The description of their musical
growth, the kinds of teaching the singer receives from his different
vocal and dramatic coaches, comprises a central portion of the book, but
this is woven throughout the book, into their lives, their family and
their growth in a nation undergoing tremendous cultural shifts.  This
is a complex but extremely humane and touching book, filled with hope
and tremendous love: of music and of humanity.  When I'm not listening
to CM (and sometimes when I am, I admit) I read extremely widely, in
both fiction and non, and this is one of the very best books I've ever
encountered.

Dave Wolf
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