( 7 reviews )
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Posted: Sep 1 2008
I am a recent graduate of college with a degree in music education. While reading this book, I really enjoyed myself and was able to brush up a little bit on my music history. Very entertaining and informative. I wish my music history classes in college were this fun.
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Posted: Jun 24 2008
Our family loves this book so much we keep buying copies to give to friends.
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Posted: Aug 10 2007
This is one of the funniest books I've read in a while, which would be reason enough to praise it, but I actually learned a lot in between the laughs. The book is written in a very conversational tone, as opposed so something dry and academic, or (worse) rife with hero worship. Since the book covers a lot of ground, the entries are necessarily brief, but they serve as great introductions and still manage to convey quite a bit of information. Barber has fun with the subjects, and seems to take delight in cataloguing eccentricities with a playfully acerbic tongue. Obviously, there is some debate over just how "true" some of the information in this book is. A couple of the claims seemed too bizarre to be real, such as Richard Wagner once writing a pamphlet stating there were vegetarian panthers in the swamps of Canada. I actually spent a few minutes Googling that, and yes indeed he did (in a tract called "On Art and Music.") So Barber passes a couple of accuracy spot-checks, but I can't vouch for the entire book. If you love classical music, it's a fun resource to give you trivia about some of your favorite composers. If you hate classical music, it's likewise invaluable for giving you the quirks and foibles of the "greats" you loathe so much. Highly recommended, and if you like this one, Barber's other books are equally enjoyable and informative.
