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Where the Heart Beats: John Cage, Zen Buddhism, and the Inner Life of Artists
by
Kay Larson
The first biography of composer John Cage to show how his work, and that of countless American artists, was transformed by Zen Buddhism.
One of the greatest American composers of the twentieth century, John Cage created music that defies easy explanation. Many writers have grappled with Cage’s music—which used notes chosen by chance, randomly tuned radios, and even silence—...more
One of the greatest American composers of the twentieth century, John Cage created music that defies easy explanation. Many writers have grappled with Cage’s music—which used notes chosen by chance, randomly tuned radios, and even silence—...more
Hardcover, 496 pages
Published
July 5th 2012
by Penguin Press HC, The
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(7.24.12) Reviewed in yesterday's Times. (8.1.12) Had a bit of an accident in Elliott Bay Bookstore last night: bought this and four other books. (8.6.12) Started reading this today, having just finished the nonsensical Lost History of Skin. I'm hoping for a quick passage from the ridiculous to the sublime. (8.25.12) Today I finally finished ploughing through it. What a disappointment! And what a shame: what could have been a fabulous book turned out to be dreadful. It's badly written, badly edi...more
Beautiful and thrilling intellectual history here, and the anecdotes are priceless, but just too speculative to trust. I think the Zen contributions to midcentury postmodernism are very real, and she does some gorgeous reading in the echoes between Cage's work and the lectures of DT Suzuki, but I think the bar is really, really high when you write a religious conversion narrative about someone who may not quite have had the conversion you describe in quite the way you describe it. So very many m...more
I loved the first 150ish-200 pages of this book. I knew little about John Cage and found it fascinating to learn about his history in general and his time here in Seattle. I'm down with Buddhism and enjoyed learning more about DT Suzuki's introduction of Buddhism to America and thoroughly enjoyed reading about the art scene in New York at the time.
Until...something happened about 200 pages into the book where it was just a hot mess of uninteresting and unfinished work. I was looking forward to h...more
Until...something happened about 200 pages into the book where it was just a hot mess of uninteresting and unfinished work. I was looking forward to h...more
Most bios and studies of John Cage acknowledge that in the middle of the century, Cage became interested in first Hindu philosophy and then Zen Buddhism, and that studying these things shaped his subsequent works and "substituted for psychoanalysis" in his personal life. Few of the scholars who note this, however, have really explored exactly what that means. Kay Larson's new book brings its strongest focus precisely on the period between 1948 and 1952 when Cage's ideas were undergoing their mos...more
Jul 08, 2012
Larry
marked it as to-read
Anything that Maria Popova (http://www.brainpickings.org/index.ph... as ... "Fifteen years in the making, it is without a doubt the richest, most stimulating,most absorbing book I've read in the past year, if not decade – remarkably researched, exquisitely written, weaving together a great many threads of cultural history into a holistic understanding of both Cage as an artist and Zen as a lens on existence." says "add it to your list Larry.
If you do not know Maria, or brainpickings.org you are...more
If you do not know Maria, or brainpickings.org you are...more
My more detailed review is here, but the enthusiasm for this book at goodreads compels me to add to it. I understand the appeal of this book, but, especially in this John Cage centennial year, it provides a misleading and shallow view of the man and his work.
The influence of Zen thought on Cage's work is important, but it's a part of a whole. Zen thought was a component of his move towards his encompassing philosophy of composition as process. But it was just a part, and as Cage moved through th...more
The influence of Zen thought on Cage's work is important, but it's a part of a whole. Zen thought was a component of his move towards his encompassing philosophy of composition as process. But it was just a part, and as Cage moved through th...more
I have to say that this is not a beginner's book. If you're mining for basic biographical info on Cage you'll want to look elsewhere. The first section had lots of info but as soon as D.T. Suzuki came to NYC and Cage encountered him the book segued into heavy analysis of Cage's motivations and the thinking behind all of his work from that point on. The years 1950 through 1952 kept circling back, chapter after chapter as the author worked to meticulously expose and explain everything going on wit...more
This is a good book, but it might have been a great one if Kay Larson showed more interest in John Cage and D.T. Suzuki and less interest in herself. On the rare occasions when she manages to shut up about her own speculations as to what she imagines Cage may have been thinking at a given moment and just tells the story, her book is interesting. When she’s just quoting Cage’s words, it is compelling. Sadly, this is a book about an ego-transcending genius written by an ego-driven mediocrity. Too...more
Maria Popova rave
It's a bit difficult to figure out where to begin in describing this rich, multi-faceted gem. In part a biography of John Cage, Where the Heart Beats honors the composer/philosopher/sensei by understanding that his life took on meaning in large part because it inspired so many others to take themselves (not too) seriously, which is why the book's also a kind of group biography of those who either gathered around or shaped their journeys in response to Cage: Merce Cunningham, Robert Rauschenberg,...more
The older I get, the more I enjoy the music of John Cage and his friend Morton Feldman. This book explores the influence of Zen Buddhism on Cage's life and work ... and by extension, a lot of other late 20th-century musical sub-genres, especially avant-grade rock. It's a bit repetitive and less than clear in places, but still an interesting ramble. Recommended for Zen practitioners, Cage/modern music fans, and lovers of American abstract expressionism in general.
I'd never been able to appreciate abstract expressionism, before reading this book. I had a kneejerk reaction to it as hopelessly conceptual and elitist. This book changed my view, appreciating the barriers Johns, Rauchsenberg, Twombly and Co. were trying to break down in taking "art" off the museum walls and creating actions and processes, not artifacts. John Cage's zen journey was deep and intimate, anchored by his study of and association with D.T. Suzuki. This book itself doesn't so much try...more
A pitiful account of some of the most brilliant and passionate figures in 20th century art. Glosses over the thought processes behind the actual art creation for a re-imagining of Cage's more personal and sexual thoughts. I also object to the author describing a biographical event in Cage's life as having happened in a "Cage-ian manner." Wouldn't everything Cage did be Cage-ian?
Kay Larson's slim volume on Cage convincingly reveals the impact Zen had on him. It introduces us to a wealth of individuals enamored with Cage's seductive intelligence and the generous gift of silence that was his greatest legacy.
The good: Incredible investigation of the influence that John Cage had on modern art. Wonderful depth into Cage's life and evolution of his thinking. Those interested in eastern thought will enjoy. The bad: too much repetition, a bit of a fan girl feel at times, some gratuitous name dropping, maybe a bit too long, maybe a bit too much of Larson's thinking projected on Cage and others. Overall, I liked it quite a bit.
She quotes Cage a lot and really makes you wish you'd known him. He seems so gentle and wise and influential, this reads as an intimate history of minimalism. Got to read Silence now.
Review to be published 2012 July 16 at 108 Zen Books: the art critic and the enso: book review of kay larson's biography of john cage
For other reviews go to TLC Book Tour for Kay Larson
An uneven, but ultimately satisfying tour of how Zen reached American shores in the 1950s and threw its radical present into the visual and musical arts.
3.5. Greatly appreciated the fact that Larson went beyond just mentioning that Buddhism (and other religious thought) influenced Cage et al, and showed *how* it did.
Feb 27, 2013
Lillian
marked it as to-read
2/2013 recommended by Brain Pickings
I wanted to like this book SO much, and I worked and worked my way through it, convinced that in the next chapter i would find the inspiring portrait of this intriguing artist that so many friends and reviewers promised. Ultimately, I found the book dull and not organized very well.
A fascinating premise for a book that is not so much a biography of John Cage, but an exploration of experimental art with John Cage as its focus. Like Cage's music it has moments of transcendence and moments of drudgery, but is always thought provoking.
Inspirational, zen-educational, and like an art history course (the one I never had). Great for a long vacation. Very dense.
An interesting if somewhat dense biography of the avant garde composer with an emphasis on his involvement in Zen.
May 18, 2013
Rodrigo
marked it as to-read
May 18, 2013
Bridgitte
marked it as to-read
May 14, 2013
Curtis
marked it as to-read
May 14, 2013
Ben B
marked it as to-read
May 13, 2013
Moira Chen
marked it as to-read
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“Suffering builds character and impels you to penetrate life’s secrets. It’s the path of great artists, great religious leaders, great social reformers. The problem is not suffering per se, but rather our identification with our own ego: our divided, dualistic, cramped view of things. ‘We are too ego-centered,’ Suzuki tells Cage.’ The ego-shell in which we live is the hardest thing to outgrow. We seem to carry it all the time from childhood up to the time we finally pass away.”
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Sep 04, 2012 09:40pm