Roll Over, Beethoven: New Edition of Book--And Movie Premiere Next Week!

Just out today in print and e-book editions (for Kindle, iPad etc.  and the Nook):  An expanded new edition of  Journeys With Beethoven: Following the Ninth, and Beyond , which I wrote with film director Kerry Candaele, published by Sinclair Books.   It's just $3.99 for the e-book and $11.99 for print.  It includes an exciting new chapter on the role Beethoven played when the Berlin Wall fell (with Leonard Bernstein in a key role).   

Kerry has a great documentary Following the Ninth, which I helped a little on--and earned some kind of producing credit--premiering in a cool theater in Santa Barbara on June 4  (see trailer below).   Both the book and the film  follow the Ninth Symphony and it's enormous cultural and political influence around the world today.  So they take us from Chile to China and Japan and Germany, plus a stop in London for a full chapter with Billy Bragg, and then back in the USA.

In the "Beyond" section of the book I explore my own obsessive "travels" with Ludwig, as a longtime rock 'n roller, in recent years, via concerts and movies and CDs -- but also through new "Beethoven delivery systems" (YouTube, web forums, Twitter, etc.)  I also interview at length pianist Jeremy Denk. 

Those who know me from my infamous Crawdaddy and Springsteen days might be a bit...surprised?  Maybe it's now, "Roll Over, Chuck Berry."  In any case, it's a totally unique book on Beethoven--a Beethoven for our time, at last.  Again, e-book here and print here.  And here's Kerry's trailer: