A Mammal's Notebook: Collected Writings of Erik Satie (Atlas Arkhive) [Paperback]

Erik Satie (Author), Ornella VOLTA (Editor), Anthony Melville (Translator)

Book Description

Series: Atlas Arkhive | Publication Date: October 1996

illustrated, performance texts, essays & memoirs

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Fifth and last in Atlas's "Archive Documents of the Avant-garde," this is the first about a composer, though it emphasizes Satie's prose writings and pen-and-ink drawings. Musical examples are included only to illustrate Satie's distinctive musical autograph or the placement of whimsical performance directions, such as his command to a pianist to "put yourself in the shade." Satie so enjoyed playing with words and being "original" that translations of his writings are a bit dangerous, but for any English-only reader interested in Satie's iconoclastic, inventive spirit, this well-organized collection of much nonsense and some sincerity?including articles about Stravinsky and Debussy?will be welcome. Excellent, unobtrusive notes give sources and dates and explain certain elements of content. Recommended for larger music collections that already have studies of Satie's music and all collections concerned with the early 20th-century avant garde.?Bonnie Jo Dopp, Long Branch Community Lib., Silver Spring, Md.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Serpent's Tail (October 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0947757929
• ISBN-13: 978-0947757922
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 8.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,408,578 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A most wonderful Book!, July 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Mammal's Notebook: Collected Writings of Erik Satie (Atlas Arkhive) (Paperback)

This book gives a delightful introduction to the life, letters and drawings of Erik Satie, one of the greatest artistic minds of the century. Although his music is his foremost contribution to the world, his writings and drawings express his gently humourous and damning views of the world and offer tremendous insight to his musical work. The book includes a list of the directions his wrote in his musical scores, which are marvellously absurdist. The drawings include the many somewhat enigmatic "advertisement" drawings he made in later life as well as Memoirs of an amnesiac and A mammmal's Notebook. There is also a libretto for a ballet which Satie presented to the directors of the Paris Opera (it was refused) as well as a play with incidental music. Satie's work has been very well translated and quite a bit of it is in both translation and the origonal french, which is lovely if you speak french and enables you to realize how good the translation is. Also, there are no annoying, silly views on Satie by stodgy editors and biographers. One can draw one's own conclusions.I cannot imagine a better book on Satie.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Grandly forgetting the present", March 10, 2006

By 

dame ethel (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Mammal's Notebook: Collected Writings of Erik Satie (Atlas Arkhive) (Paperback)

I would like to relate to you all the occasion of my first encounter with "A Mammal's Notebook". I had found a copy in my university's library. On the train-ride home that same day I started to read. I found Satie's words and satirical sense of humour so delightful that it was impossible for me to put the book away when my train ride came to an end, so my 20-minute walk home became a half hour walk-read with occcasional bursts of laughter. (I guess I looked a little strange, but one often feels compelled to do strange things when immersed in the eccentric world of Satie, who was a true maverick.) Since that time, I have spent many an hour enthralled by this book. (Luckily, I have since invested in my own copy)

Now, I may be a little obsessive, but I think many others will also enjoy A Mammal's Notebook.

About the contents:

Satie is an enigmatic character. He very rarely discussed his own composition processes, so if you are looking for that, you will not find it here.

What you will find includes:
-A mini biography and timeline
-Translations of the witty and mysterious texts that accompany many of his pieces.
-A list of Satie's eccentric performance markings translated to English (e.g. Almost invisible..., Avoid any sacrilegious excitement... Grandly forgetting the present,... etc)
-Articles which he wrote for publication (on various topics: his contemporaries, the art of reading aloud, books, etc.)
-Transcriptions of speeches
-Other writings and musings which weren't intended for publication
-Sketches (of unusual architectural constructions, boats, etc.)

The only thing missing here is an analysis of the material included, but that point is forgivable as there analyses out there. (I would encourage other readers not to skip the end notes as these do give context to some of the items included.)

A highly recomended collection.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Side of Satie, March 16, 2008

By 

Leopold Bloom (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Mammal's Notebook: Collected Writings of Erik Satie (Atlas Arkhive) (Paperback)

Norman Lebrecht observes that Virgil Thomson considered Satie the most original mind in modern music, and laments that he applied his gifts so inconsistently. This collection may engender the opposite conclusion, that Satie could have been a great humorist, had he not devoted so much time to musical composition. Included here are the instructions to performers that Satie forbade sharing with the audience, although, unfortunately, the individual piece to which each one applies is not specified. Several essays, notably "The Musician's Day," straddle the line between satire and surrealism. Overall, the collection adds a dimension to Satie beyond his music. Somewhat disturbing are the samples of "advertisements" that reveal an obsession with adolescent interests - castles, sorcerers, and aircraft.