Customer Reviews

Erik Satie

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Hello,
This is not a review of my book, 'Erik Satie,' but rather a query. I am wondering why you choose to reprint a rather shabby treatment of the book from an insignificant publication such as 'Library Journal' when the book enjoyed almost uniformly excellent reviews in the major scholarly press world-wide (e.g., 'Musical Quarterly,' 'Musical Times,' 'Music and Letters,' 'Music Review,' etc.) not to speak of a glowing major review in the prestigious 'New York Review of Books' by the distinguished scholar Roger Shattuck? The 'Library Review' items are hastily written thumbnail sketches of a single paragraph aimed at busy librarians, not thoughtful major reviews written by specialists in the field. Considering that Amazon is in the business of selling books, the reproduction of this rather negative paragraph rather than one of the numerous glowing reviews from scholars far better placed than Ms. Kiraly is puzzling. It does both Amazon and myself a disservice. Now that the book is out of print it probably doesn't matter. But I would be pleased to provide a full dossier of reviews if you wished. At the very least I would be pleased if you would pull Kiraly's superficial paragraph. It really does misrepresent the book, unless you believe that all the other reviewers are wrong. Thank you. Sincerely, Alan M. Gillmor PS: I filled in the star rating only because it was mandatory!

Gillmor's `Erik Satie' is a detailed and scholarly work while at the same time being extremely readable. It cannot be compared with either Myers's flamboyant `Erik Satie' or Shattuck's `The Banquet Years' both are excellent, but each is written from a different perspective with a different purpose and focus. It seems likely that the author of the Library Journal review (posted here), either knew nothing about Satie and avant garde music or only scanned Gillmor's book. Having read all three and studied Satie and avant garde music as part of my university course, the library review seems quite foolish.

Gillmor's book provides a great deal more factual information and analysis on Satie and his work, than both Myer's and Shattuck's books, and it is essential (as well as enjoyable) reading for anyone with a serious interest in Satie, avant garde music or a desire to understand the origins and development of 20th century music.

Gillmor's is the best Satie bio you can find. I've read others but this one is the most complete and thorough, going from analyses of "Vexations" and his more occultic deviations to his artistic associations with other artists of the era. It's a highly technical, personal and yet readable bio and a must for anyone with an ear for the avant garde or just good music! Bravo!