Customer Reviews

Max Morath: The Road to Ragtime

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Only Max Morath and his wife, photographer Diane Skomars, could have created this book. It's a beautifully designed time capsule, a portrait of a showman who, though he plays music from the turn of the century, is very much a man of the present. The iconography of the freeway -- lurid hotel, restaurant, and gas station signs -- is part of this story, as well as Max's pithy words on chocolate malts, where to sit on an airplane (on the aisle toward the front), and a thoughtful final essay called "Thinking About the Music" wherein Max tells us exactly where American popular music came from.

In all of the mass of literature about American entertainment, there are only a few books that give you an accurate idea of what show business is really like -- ACT ONE, by Moss Hart, THE TROUBLE WITH CINDERELLA, by Artie Shaw, ALL OF MY BEST FRIENDS, by George Burns, and the occasional passage in a star's autobiography (Sophie Tucker, Billy Rose, Little Richard).

Now, THE ROAD TO RAGTIME has joined that select company. Thanks to Max Morath and Diane Fay Skomars, we have a document that shows what real American show business is like in the late 20th Century trenches -- the one-man show, the community concerts circuit, the roadhouses and honky-tonks, radio, television, and anywhere else there's an audience ready to be entertained.

Max Morath is one of America's greatest entertainers. He's one of those magical peformers who's able to get the audience in the palm of his hand the moment he takes the stage. What's extraordinary is that he's been able to be so successful without ever compromising the integrity of his music.

He's a national treasure -- and this terrific book helps us unlock it.

-- Murray Horwitz National Public Radio

For Max Morath fans, it's a must: a glorious, glossy picture book with photos covering his entire career, accompanied by a text sprinkled with his humorous and perceptive observations about music and society. It's the type of material that has defined his performances, that has endeared him to us, and it continues to delight. The "road" of the title has a double meaning, embracing both the course of his career in ragtime and the course of a traveling performer's life. Each road occupies equal space in the book, with Morath's travels through America sparking additional observations about such topics as air travel, interstate highways, restaurants, chocolate malteds, among others. With his usual wit and charm, Morath finds meaning in the mundane. Photographs by his wife, Diane Fay Skomars, document these journeys, adding definition to the already vivid commentaries.

This is a non-fiction book you can actually read! It's funny, truthful, revealing, exciting and fun. Max approaches this book the way he approaches his music--with vigor and enthusiasm. The pictures have depth--you get to know Max through the photography. Would highly recommend it!

Only Max Morath and his wife, photographer Diane Skomars, could have created this book. It's a beautifully designed time capsule, a portrait of a showman who, though he plays music from the turn of the century, is very much a man of the present. The iconography of the freeway -- lurid hotel, restaurant, and gas station signs -- is part of this story, as well as Max's pithy words on chocolate malts, where to sit on an airplane (on the aisle toward the front), and a thoughtful final essay called "Thinking About the Music" wherein Max tells us exactly where American popular music came from.

Max Morath is an American original. In this book, he blends his passion for music and his unique perspective of the roadside culture into a lyrical celebration of joy. He has employed his inimitable skills as a composer to create a ragtime song in prose. The well-chosen photographs provide the reader with an intimate glimpse into the heart and soul of this legendary world-class performer. I agree with his talented wife and co-author, portrait photographer Diane Faye Skomars, that the book is truly about The Max, a gifted, complex man, who seized the best of his times and wove them into a deeply spiritual song of praise.

Max Morath and Diane Skomars have created a handsome book celebrating Max's career as a channeler of American popular culture. Max loves the American present as much as he loves its past. He's been stirring the melting pot for fifty years now, mixing musical styles, fact, fiction, humor, and social observation. This book is much like a Morath concert--that is, it is sweet, funny, and wise. Skomars' photographs gorgeously depict the world of "Present Max"--a world of fast food, lookalike motels, freeway signs--as he travels to take "Past Max" to audiences everywhere. A beautiful evocation of Max at work and on his way to work.