Audiobook me. Difficulty level: nonfiction about the arts

July 18, 2024 5:51 PM

Not sure 100% what I'm looking for. Recently I enjoyed the new Elaine May bio and the book about the making of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and longer ago the Mike Nichols bio and longerer ago, the oral history of Angels in America. So like, stuff that gives a real feel for moments of genius in the performing arts (film, theater, classical music, maybe other stuff) in some particular era but let's say the last hundred years. Got anything? I've got a libro.fm credit burning a hole in my, uh, e-wallet or whatever.
posted by less-of-course to Media & Arts (9 answers total)

My dad, who likes biographies, just recommended Judi Dench's Shakespeare, the man who pays the bills
posted by metahawk at 5:57 PM on July 18 [2 favorites]

Pictures at a Revolution is fantastic. Same author as the Mike Nichols biography from a few years ago.
posted by dobbs at 6:07 PM on July 18 [1 favorite]

These may not be exactly right but I’ve really enjoyed a bunch of different comedian or entertainment type autobiographies (or memoirs - wait what is the difference)
My Happy Days in Hollywood by Garry Marshall (The Odd Couple, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley [Penny Marshall is his sister], Mork & Mindy, Beaches, Pretty Woman…)
Still Foolin Em by Billy Crystal
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (often mentioned here)
I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend by Martin Short has a lot of anecdotes about Second City Toronto and early Saturday Night Live personalities
posted by Glinn at 8:52 PM on July 18 [1 favorite]

Would you be interested in something about John Cage? I can strongly recommend this lovely biography that also serves as a guide to zen as he understood and practiced it.

Larson, Kay. 2012. Where the Heart Beats – John Cage, Zen Buddhism, and the Inner Life of Artists. Penguin Books USA. ISBN 978-1-594-20340-4
Wiki: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cage
posted by esoteric things at 8:52 PM on July 18 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I really loved Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers. Rogers was a theater writer and composer, best known for Once Upon a Mattress. She was also the daughter of composer Richard Rogers, the mother of current composer/lyricist Adam Guettel, and was, for a while, the live-in romantic partner of Stephen Sondheim. (It's clear they adored each other, and both of them had to come to terms with the fact that he was gay. It seems to have taken a while.)

In short, her life was packed with theater-related adventures, and the book is a fun read.
posted by BlahLaLa at 9:19 PM on July 18 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I think I'm going with Shy. The Cage bio sounds interesting but doesn't appear to exist as an audiobook. Maybe I'll do some of the others next.
posted by less-of-course at 10:19 PM on July 18 [1 favorite]

You might enjoy The Swans of Harlem, which is about five of the ballerinas, their lives and careers, of the Harlem Dance Theater. It's definitely got a 'what it felt like to be present at that moment of genius' thing!
posted by lysimache at 6:14 AM on July 19 [2 favorites]

I'm stealing all of these recommendations, so thanks for the question and the answer.

Just in case it pops up later, it looks like there's an audiobook of the Cage book on audible at least: https://www.audible.com/pd/Where-the-Heart-Beats-Audiobook/B00IJJZCH0. Maybe if you wind up with one of those e-credits e-burning an e-hole in your e-pocket :D
posted by adekllny at 8:57 AM on July 19

I really loved Faith, Hope, and Carnage by Nick Cave. Even if you are not a NC superfan I think there is so much fascinating stuff there about love, loss, creativity.
posted by SinAesthetic at 10:28 AM on July 19 [1 favorite]