As Smart as We Are [Hardcover]

One Ring Zero (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 2004

Eighteen of North America's most significant contemporary writers, including many bestselling authors, have written lyrics specially for The Author Project, a CD of songs composed and performed by the New York City-based band One Ring Zero. Imagine the finest anthology of writing possible including winners of the Booker Prize, National Book Award, the Pulitzer, the National Book Critics Circle Award; authors with real cult followings - Neil Gaiman, Denis Johnston, Paul Auster, and then imagine that writing put to music and expect an onslaught of media attention.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Michael Hearst and Joshua Camp, a pair of musicians with a penchant for eccentric music and truly eclectic instrumentation, are the driving force behind this album, featuring lyrics by 17 established writers, including Margaret Atwood, Paul Auster and Neil Gaiman. Infused with theremin loops and klezmer tonalities, the music sounds like it’s being cranked out of a hurdy-gurdy by a carnival freak. Or perhaps like a cross between They Might Be Giants and the Squirrel Nut Zippers at their most difficult. In short, it’s not for everyone. But there are times, as in Auster’s "Natty Man Blues," when the approach comes together without being overbearing. Denis Johnson’s Southern-fried "Blessings" features pointedly ironic lyrics like, "Bless now/ The cancer of the bone, the last light making/ Beautiful the poisons in the sky." Myla Goldberg has a bit more fun, with Syd Straw crooning lines like, "When you’re made of clay/ Just avoid the rainy days." As Fiona Maazel, who writes excellent, jaunty commentaries for each song, muses about Jonathan Lethem’s "Water": "As smart as we are, we have no idea what this song is about." Listeners will find that thought a familiar refrain.
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Review

"A beautiful shebang of literary and aural mischief." -- Village Voice

"A well-orchestrated booby-trap for music lovers everywhere." -- Viggo Mortenson

"Gypsy-klezmer, cartoon-circus-flea music you mainly hear in your dreams." -- The New Yorker

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Soft Skull Press (April 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932360425
• ISBN-13: 978-1932360424
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 5.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,541,414 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Clay McLeod Chapman is the creator of the rigorous storytelling session The Pumpkin Pie Show. He is the author of REST AREA, a collection of short stories, and MISS CORPUS, a novel, published by Hyperion books. He teaches writing at The Actors Studio MFA Program at Pace University.

Currently, he is writing a trilogy of children's novels titled THE TRIBE--book one, HOMEROOM HEADHUNTERS, is slated to hit the shelves in 2013, published by Hyperion books.

Visit him at: www.pumpkinpieshow.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an incredibly smart debut..., July 22, 2004

By 

Felicia Sullivan (New York, ny United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: As Smart as We Are (Hardcover)

Reviewed by Jennifer Leblanc for Small Spiral Notebook

Michael Hearst and Joshua Camp of One Ring Zero hate writing lyrics. So they got the pros to do it for them. Not the usual songwriting pros, though; 17 award-winning, famous literary authors. Margaret Atwood, Dave Eggers, Jonathan Lethem and A.M. Homes are just a few of the contributors. If it wasn?t for this project, we might never have known that Myla Goldberg is a classically trained flutist as well as novelist. That?s one of the numerous off things about One Ring Zero?s new cd, As Smart As We Are

This is not background music, I warn you. This is not a cd for a party, dinner, reading or otherwise. This is a cd to be heard and combed through like poetry, and it?s worth every minute. The main instruments alone demand your complete attention- the claviola, toy piano, side whistle, Theremin, and Glockenspiel. Yes, the Swiss musical clock made famous by a Frasier episode. The overall sound is that of a demented circus (if you are afraid of clowns, this cd is not for you), sometimes reminding you of a puppet show (the lyrics in the booklet are attached to strings). At other times, such as in #5, ?Kiss Me You Brat? by Rick Moody, waltzes and carousels come to mind.

One of the best songs, which sound most like an average song, is ?Blessing? by Denis Johnson. Unlike most others, this has a chorus, and I personally think that Johnson could give up his day job to write country music. Myla Goldberg, who could do the same to play the flute, wrote Golem, calling the fabled Jewish monster ?my sedimental Valentine.?

The best song for the lyrics is by Dave Eggers, ?The Ghost of Rita Gonzalo?. His words don?t even need music:

If I were a well I would want you to yell down my depths
Your voice booming,
Echoing
My well is deep and black.


This entertaining and exotic cd will certainly echo in your mind long after listening, which anyone will feel the need to do several times.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic writing made better by a talented band, May 23, 2004

By 

M. Bell (Ann Arbor, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: As Smart as We Are (Hardcover)

One Ring Zero's done a wonderful job here setting to music the work of some of today's brighest writers. Highlights include Denis Johnson's "Blessing", Daniel Handler's "Radio", and Jonathan Lethem's "Water," the track that provides the title of this book/album. ORZ has invited a strong supporting cast of musicians to augment their own apparently impressive talents, and some of the writers even contribute their own musical skills, such as Myla Goldberg's flute playing and Jonatham Ames' "hairy call." A notable fusion of literature and music, without a bad song or a slow moment. Well worth the money.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars zippy fun, July 17, 2004

By 

S. Fleischmann "Sammie" (Vermont) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: As Smart as We Are (Hardcover)

This was a wonderful and strange companion to our drive up the mountains in Arizona. Much fun and quite silly.