Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "For Denise Sandole, the forty-seventh annual Grammy Awards was something to celebrate..." (more)
Key Phrases: vocal point, cappella recording, cappella group, Ben Appel, Don Gooding, Code Red (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

According to GQ senior editor Rapkin, today's lively collegiate a cappella groups boast hip-hop repertory, professional vocal arrangements, competitions at Lincoln Center and a world shrunk by the Internet. During the 2006–2007 college season, Rapkin, an alum of a Cornell all-male singing club, followed three a cappella powerhouses: Divisi, an all-girl group from the University of Oregon, the testosterone-driven Hullabahoos of the University of Virginia, and Beelzebubs, from Tufts. Each is a collective with a score to settle, a tradition to honor. Robbed of a championship in 2005, Divisi wants payback; the Hullabahoos want respect without forfeiting their frat-boy charm; and the controversial Bubs want to hone their edge. Throughout, Rapkin engages with celebrity trivia (Heroes' Masi Oka sang a cappella at Brown) and music criticism. He profiles the cottage recording industry built from college a cappella. Most notably, he riffs through signature events and crisis moments with a snarky humor (onstage Divisi looks like the women in that Robert Palmer video) that turns each chapter into a picaresque progression toward graduation. (June)
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From Booklist

Designating unaccompanied singing, a cappella literally means “like the chapel,” appropriately since the form, Rapkin says, began with Gregorian chant. In the prologue, Rapkin cheerfully clambers through a cappella’s roots and varied branches, from shape-note singing and call-and-response singing to barbershop and the folk-pop hit “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and gospel classics by the Soul Stirrers with Sam Cooke. Yet a cappella has come fully to life on college campuses. While the phenomenon’s “gold standard” remains the Whiffenpoofs, founded in 1909 at Yale, there are now more than 1,200 collegiate a cappella groups in the U.S. A cappella is the opposite of cool, Rapkin concedes, yet such now-famous folk as Diane Sawyer, Art Garfunkel, and Osama bin Laden (!) once sang in a cappella groups. The bulk of the book examines three current groups—the University of Oregon’s all-female Divisi, the Tufts Beelzebubs of Tufts University, and the University of Virginia’s Hullabahoos—as they compete against one another in a scenario that makes American Idol look rather tame. A fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at an underappreciated musical subculture. --June Sawyers

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 275 pages
• Publisher: Gotham (May 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159240376X
• ISBN-13: 978-1592403769
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #519,091 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative, Insightful, Touching, and FUN!, May 31, 2008

By	Brian Patrick Byrne (Encino, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I must admit, I'm a big fan of collegiate a cappella since attending college in the late 90s (listening to the NYU NHarmonics, NYU APC Rhythm, and UPenn Off The Beat)...so I was eagerly awaiting the release of this book. I'm happy to report that it did not disappoint AT ALL! Whether you are a fan or completely unfamiliar with collegiate a cappella, the stories of triumph, tragedy, and yes, even tales of glory that are woven in the page of Rapkin's book are accessible to all. But I will say, if you are in a college a cappella group, if you ever have been part of one, or ever want to be...this book is a MUST! Everyone else can read and marvel at how guys that sing in 8-part harmony while wearing goofy-looking robes can be some of the most successful with the ladies at UVA...

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Summer Read!, May 31, 2008

By	J. Withers (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

After reading about it in Rolling Stone and USA Today on the same day, I decided to buy it. AND IT'S GREAT. It reads so well and is so funny, kinda like the movie Bring It On, but this is about college singers. I had no idea that this whole world existed and I didn't even go to college that long ago. It didn't matter that I didn't know about a cappella, though, because the author gives you all the background you need, while also keeping the story going. Apparently, Mickey Rapkin's an editor at GQ; I'll have to look out for him.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars couldn't stop reading, June 10, 2008

By	shainala "me" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

i devoured this book in one day--today--and was alternately enthralled by the stories of the individual groups, fascinated by the facts i never knew, and laughing my head off at the author's sarcasm and wit.
i have been a big follower of collegiate a cappella for a few years now; both my older brother and i are in groups at our universities and my uncle was a part of Cornell's Hangovers. I have attended countless shows, both professional (Five O'Clock Shadow is my favorite group on the face of the earth) and collegiate, including the ICCA semifinals. needless to say, i thought i had a pretty good knowledge of the world of college a cappella. this book showed me i was wrong, and in the best way! It also made me interested in groups i'd never heard of, and i will most definately be on the lookout for some CDs...
I will also be recommending this to any and all a capella fans i know and just about anyone else who likes a good story.