Tom Stoppard has my book in his satchel. I’ve been nominated for the Bloggies. And, believe it or not, I’m scheduled to appear tonight on The Colbert Report. Though I can’t rival Carl Wilson, whose (brilliant) book Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste has ended up in the Hands of Obama.
For those visiting this site for the first time, no, I’m not that Alex Ross. Here‘s a description of the book, here is related audio, and this essay explains what I’m about.
Update: I survived Colbert. I was initially terrified — it felt like being the nerd in high school all over again — but I ended up having fun. The host knew a lot more about music than his onscreen character allowed him to show. Because a Jon Stewart routine earlier in the program ran long, some of our dialogue was cut, including, alas, an exchange about Stockhausen. It went something like this:
ROSS: … and the Beatles were listening to avant-garde works by John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen, and ended up putting Stockhausen’s face on the cover of Sgt. Peppers.
COLBERT: OK, but I’ve never heard of this guy Stockhausen.
ROSS: He believed he was from the star Sirius.
COLBERT: The dog star.
ROSS: He recently died — he’s on his way back to Sirius.
COLBERT: It sounds like some kind of cult.
Needless to say, I’m very grateful to Colbert for giving attention to my book, and to classical music in general.