Lou Harrison

"A superb new biography"—Alex Ross, The New Yorker

"An illuminating and engrossing new biography"—Los Angeles Times

"Readers who are willing to take a deep dive will be well rewarded. Harrison's life story was an inspiring one, as Alves and Campbell demonstrate. . . . Through the authors' research, we see the complex network of connections between composers—the camaraderie, and the occasional infighting and drama."—4Columns

"Comprehensive and engrossing"—The New York Times

"This scrupulously researched, lovingly written biography provides a comprehensive overview of the man, his life and times, and the music he made."—Songlines

"I studied with Lou Harrison, and he provided my first up-close exposure to world music, to different tuning systems, and to a real live member of the pantheon of American experimental music. I highly recommend this exhaustively researched book, which clearly captures his personality and life: his states of mind, his sexuality, his self-awareness and self-questioning, his journey from young, under-employed composer to lauded master."—David Lang, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer

"Lou Harrison's avuncular personality and tuneful music coaxed affectionate regard from all who knew him, and that affection is evident on every page of Alves and Campbell's new biography. Eminently readable, it puts Harrison at the center of American music: he knew everyone important and was in touch with everybody, from mentors like Henry Cowell and Arnold Schoenberg and Charles Ives and Harry Partch and Virgil Thomson to peers like John Cage to students like Janice Giteck and Paul Dresher. He was larger than life in person, and now he is larger than life in history as well."—Kyle Gann, author of Charles Ives's Concord: Essays After a Sonata

"In this new biography, Bill Alves and Brett Campbell share a thorough overview of Harrison's life in the form of a dense, chronological narrative, rich in details meticulously cited, and interwoven with insightful details about his music."—John MacInnis, Notes, the journal of the Music Library Association

"In this new biography, Bill Alves and Brett Campbell share a thorough overview of Harrison's life in the form of a dense, chronological narrative, interwoven with insightful details about his music."—Notes