The Temple of Music: A Novel and over 360,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle – Amazon’s new wireless reading device. Learn more

40 used & new from $0.01
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
The Temple of Music: A Novel
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book
Start reading The Temple of Music: A Novel on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.
 
  

The Temple of Music: A Novel (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "His mother should not have come here; the trip was arduous, she was getting on in years, and Leon was in her womb, a stowaway..." (more)
Key Phrases: nipple top, full dinner pail, moneyed men, Mark Hanna, New York, Emma Goldman (more...)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


13 new from $0.01 23 used from $0.01 4 collectible from $12.95

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
  Kindle Edition, December 28, 2004 $9.99 -- --
  Hardcover, December 27, 2004 -- $0.01 $0.01
  Paperback, December 26, 2005 $13.95 $6.15 $0.01
  Audio, Cassette, Unabridged -- $175.00 $17.14
  Audio, Download Offsite Link $20.98 or less with new Audible membership

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Murdering McKinley: The Making of Theodore Roosevelt's America

Murdering McKinley: The Making of Theodore Roosevelt's America

by Eric Rauchway
3.8 out of 5 stars (13)  $13.50
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey

The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey

by Candice Millard
4.7 out of 5 stars (248)  $10.20
Three Men in a Boat: (To Say Nothing of the Dog) (Dover Value Editions)

Three Men in a Boat: (To Say Nothing of the Dog) (Dover Value Editions)

by Jerome K. Jerome
4.7 out of 5 stars (10)  $5.95
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America

by Erik Larson
4.3 out of 5 stars (865)  $10.20
The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story

The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story

by Diane Ackerman
3.6 out of 5 stars (156)  $10.17
› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Lowy's second novel (after Elvis and Nixon) is a scattered but compelling account of the assassination of William McKinley at the hands of Leon Czolgosz at the 1901 Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, N.Y. Czolgosz is an enigmatic figure, and Lowy does a good job of filling in the blanks with a failed love affair and moments of anguished alienation that explain in realistically messy terms why a man would commit such an extreme act. Lowy occasionally engages in commentary that pushes beyond its usefulness as stage-setting—as in his distracting protest against the turn-of-the-century marriage of big business and politics—and he sometimes succumbs to pontification when encapsulating the era's clash of revolutionaries and robber barons. He makes up for this, however, in his colorful pictures of the era's giants: robust McKinley and his frail, haunted wife, Ida; megalomaniac newspaper magnate Hearst; eccentric socialite/condom peddler Morris Vandeveer; anarchist icon Emma Goldman; and McKinley's handler, "Dollar" Mark Hanna, gigolo father of the modern political campaign. In the end, the novel stays true to the mission of good historical fiction, which is to dispel the textbook notion of iconic events as either planned or inevitable. Czolgosz and McKinley are real people in Lowy's hands, motivated as much by love and fear as politics or ideology, and often confused as they unwittingly write the pages of American history.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


Review

"A big, bold, and absolutely breathtaking work of historical fiction. The only thing more impressive than Jonathan Lowy's remarkable research is the richness of his characterizations." —Chris Bohjalian, author of Midwives and Before You Know Kindness

“Invigorating . . . The novel’s clarion style is modulated by intimate details . . .” —Boston Globe

“Beautifully researched and cunningly written.” —Buffalo News

“A high-water mark in the ongoing renaissance of the historical novel.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)


From the Trade Paperback edition. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.
See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Crown (December 28, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0609608193
  • ISBN-13: 978-0609608197
  • Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,883,496 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

Jonathan Lowy
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

› Visit Amazon's Jonathan Lowy Page
Front Cover | Front Flap | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
His mother should not have come here; the trip was arduous, she was getting on in years, and Leon was in her womb, a stowaway on the ship to the new world. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
nipple top, full dinner pail, moneyed men, rubber nipple
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Mark Hanna, New York, Emma Goldman, Andrew Carnegie, Market Street, William Jennings Bryan, Morris Vandeveer, Fifth Avenue, Republican Party, Leon Czolgosz, Marcus Alonzo Hanna, United States, Infant Incubator, James Parker, John Milburn, Senator Hanna, William Randolph Hearst, Albert Parsons, Anthony Comstock, August Spies, Temple of Music, Tom Reed, White House, Henry Clay Frick, Justus Schwab
New!
Concordance | Text Stats
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 29 books:
See all 29 books this book cites

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Hearty, Historical Broth, January 25, 2005
By Robert J. Walker (Washington , D.C.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
The last two decades of the 19th century are two of the most colorful and momentous decades of our history, a fascinating era, but one often overlooked by good writers of historical fiction. Lowy's book is a welcome and long overdue addition to the genre.

For anyone familiar with this chapter of American history there is no suspense; the plot moves steadily toward its inevitable conclusion: the assassination of McKinley by an anarchist. But along the way, the author's attention to detail brings to life the sights, smells, and sounds of an era that seems so distant, yet-in some notable respects-uncomfortably close to our own.

It's a book of contrasts, starkly drawn. Lowy brings into sharp relief the fabulous, almost obscene, wealth of the robber barons and juxtaposes it against the grinding poverty and hardships that accompanied America's industrial revolution. That alone makes for a good read, but it's the vivid, and oddly sympathetic treatment that he gives his characters that make it compelling. Working with classic ingredients like `Dollar' Mark Hanna, William Randolph Hearst, Ambrose Bierce, and Emma Goldman, Lowy has worked up a hearty, historical broth that should please the reader. My compliments to the chef.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Something different, March 7, 2005
By Amy Leemon (North Fond du Lac, WI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
The sights and sounds of the Gilded Age are vividly brought to life in this novel. It is so eloquent that you can just picture every scene. The contrast between the rich (which was almost sinfully gaudy) and the poor (so dark and gloomy and hopeless) come to life.

It brings all the characters through the years to their meeting point at the Buffalo World"s Fair where anarchist Leon Czolgosz shoots President McKinley.

This book is absolutely riveting and probably different from anything you've read lately. It's really worth your time.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Death Lurking near Niagra Falls., April 7, 2005
This well-done combination with real life characters at an historic place and time is sometimes choppy as we flipflop from the stalker and the stalkee.

It is a novel based on real people during the World's Fair in 1901 at Buffalo, New York. The Temple of Music is the beautiful centerpiece of the Exposition where Pres. William McKinley is set to give a speech. The times are good for the rich but not so good for the poor immigrants and low wage workers.

At 5 p.m. on September 6, two bullets were fired close up and could be heard out on the Midway. Peopled with such illuminaries of that Gilded Age as the yellow tabloid publisher Hearst and Andrew Carnegie's iron-fisted manager Henry Clay Frick, it shows the dangers and adverse publicity our early presidents were subjected to in life and death. McKinley lasted a week before he died, on September 13, 1901, in late afternoon.

In a month, the assassin Leon Czolgosz was executed in the electric chair, his brain extracted and examined after his death, and he was thrown into a pit and doused with acid. This is fiction. Surely we were more humane and life went on with others being charged as accessories but nothing could be proved.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)

Look for Similar Items by Category

Look for Similar Items by Subject

Search Books by subject:














i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...
 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.



Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.