The Paris Diary & The New York Diary 1951-1961 [Paperback]

Ned Rorem (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 22, 1998

When The Paris Diary exploded on the scene in 1966 there had never been a book in English quite like it: Its intimate combination of personal, literary, and social insights was unprecedented. Rorem's self-portrait of the artist as a young man, written between 1951 and 1955, was also a mirror of the times, depicting the now vanished milieu of Cocteau, Eluard, Gide, Landowska, Boulez, the Vicomtesse de Noailles, and others whose paths crossed with Rorem's in such settings as Paris, Morocco, and Italy. The New York Diary, published the following year, pictured the period between 1956 and 1960, when Rorem had returned to America. The diaries marked the beginnings of Gay Liberation, not because Rorem made a special issue of his sexuality, but because he did not; rather, he wrote of his affairs frankly and unashamedly. A casualness informs each sensual entry, and the overall tone is at once bratty and brilliant, insecure and vain, loving and cultured, but, above all, honest and entertaining.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Composer Ned Rorem has an exquisite way with a song, distilling musical essences to provide miniature masterpieces that linger in listeners' minds. He is also, as these diaries prove, a facile, if somewhat undisciplined, writer. And someone mired in self-absorption. At the time Rorem wrote his diaries, he was distinctly callow and obsessed with being "pretty"; yet the picture that emerges of him in his youth is not entirely attractive. The book will be of interest to those who are curious about the lives of significant composers, both for the small insights that he shares about his composition process and for the details of his life and the circumstances under which he wrote his music. His vividly sketched picture of gay life more than a generation ago widens the audience of this book. --Sarah Bryan Miller

About the Author

Ned Rorem has created a body of work that includes four symphonies, four piano concertos, nine operas, and fourteen books. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for his orchestral suite Air Music. He divides his time between New York City and Nantucket.

Product Details

• Paperback: 399 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (March 22, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306808382
• ISBN-13: 978-0306808388
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 4.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,136,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learning Ned Rorem - Lesson One, October 3, 2000

By 

Francisco Herrera (Kansas City, MO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Paris Diary & The New York Diary 1951-1961 (Paperback)

I came about Rorem 'round about-ly -through videos of interviews and liner note snippets - and was greatly intrigued by his blatantly keen mind. While learning the music, I put the 'word' into it all and it plunged me even deeper. Between his impish candor and spotless observation one experiences a fine chunk of a true artistic pursuit. Also, his reflections on the two worlds of Paris and New York and the creative flora and fauna therein are priceless.

1 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Paris Diary and the New York Diary, January 10, 2007

By 

David S. Carroll (Cordova, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Paris Diary & The New York Diary 1951-1961 (Paperback)

Clean, as described. Delivery within ok time.