Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Set in early 1970s Detroit, a racially divided city still reeling from its violent riot of 1967, Beautiful Music is the story of one young man's transformation through music. Danny Yzemski is a husky, pop radio-loving loner balancing a dysfunctional home life with the sudden harsh realities of freshman year at a high school marked by racial turbulence. He finds refuge through bonding sessions with his father--listening to records on their brand new hi-fi and taking in his advice on dealing with bullies and driving a car with authority. But when Danny's father passes away suddenly, he's left alone to deal with his mother, a fragile woman angry about the loss of her husband and the increasingly seismic cultural shifts in the world. As she soldiers on with the help of Librium, highballs, and breakfast cereal, Danny soon finds that, between his tormentors at school and the toxic dinners at home, he needs to be more determined than ever to persevere. When he discovers rock music and, in particular, the drum and guitar-heavy songs of Michigan legends like The MC5 and Iggy Pop, he finds his reason to carry on and a new identity at school. In the vein of Nick Hornby, Beautiful Music is a touching story about the power of music and its ability to save one's soul.
Synopsis
"How do we find soul-saving comfort in moments when deep personal loneliness coincides with a world gone increasingly mad? This question is at the heart of Beautiful Music, Michael Zadoorian's funny and melancholic novel that navigates the haunted history of the Rust Belt. Zadoorian shows how music has kept the region's heart beating--especially Detroit's--even in the most crushing and confusing of times."
--Dean Bakopoulos, author of Summerlong
"Michael Zadoorian has captured an era when Detroit simmered with anger and fear while it simultaneously reverberated with the joyous noise of rock and roll. Beautiful Music eloquently evokes the beauty, confusion, and power of that late 1960s/early 1970s milieu."
--Don Was, Grammy Award-winning producer, president of Blue Note Records, cofounder of the band Was (Not Was)
"The story of Beautiful Music is painted with rich, exquisite detail and all the painful hyperawareness of growing up in a culture of mixed signals, confusion, and loss. Salvation comes through music. A miraculous safe place in which to belong."
--Nancy Wilson, singer/guitarist, Heart
"Like Nick Hornby or the great Nick Tosches, Michael Zadoorian is the rare novelist whose prose crackles with the energy of the best rock 'n' roll. Beautiful Music is a beautiful bildungsroman that does the sounds and spirit of his beloved Detroit proud."
--Jim DeRogatis, author of Let It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs
"Don't let anyone tell you that a novel can't have a soundtrack. Beautiful Music adds another chapter to Detroit's rock and roll mythology, every scene shaking with bass, drums, guitar riffs, and driving vocals. But beneath it all, Zadoorian expertly portrays a quiet boy who's navigating heartache at home, bullies at school, and racial tension in the air--a boy trusting in music to tell him that both he and his city will be okay in the end."
--Adam Schuitema, author of The Things We Do That Make No Sense
"Beautiful Music thrums like a guitar riff and rattles like a bass drum. This soulful, funny, transporting, and often electrifying novel will resonate with anyone who's found their true passion--or is still on the hunt. It's not just a great Detroit story and a great American story; it's also a story about what it means to be human. I loved this book In the words of Bob Seger, all I could do was turn the page."
--Davy Rothbart, author of My Heart Is an Idiot
Set in early 1970s Detroit, a racially divided city still reeling from its violent riot of 1967, Beautiful Music is the story of one young man's transformation through music. Danny Yzemski is a husky, pop radio-loving loner balancing a dysfunctional home life with the sudden harsh realities of freshman year at a high school marked by racial turbulence.
But after tragedy strikes the family, Danny's mother becomes increasingly erratic and angry about the seismic cultural shifts unfolding in her city and the world. As she tries to hold it together with the help of Librium, highballs, and breakfast cereal, Danny finds his own reason to carry on: rock 'n' roll. In particular, the drum and guitar-heavy songs of local legends like the MC5 and Iggy Pop. In the vein of Nick Hornby and Tobias Wolff, yet with a style very much Zadoorian's own, Beautiful Music is a touching story about the power of music and its ability to save one's soul.
Synopsis
"Set in early 1970s Detroit, a racially divided city still reeling from its violent riot of 1967, this novel is the story of a high school boy's transformation through music."
--Publishers Weekly Spring 2018 Adult Announcements, Literary Fiction
"How do we find soul-saving comfort in moments when deep personal loneliness coincides with a world gone increasingly mad? This question is at the heart of Beautiful Music, Michael Zadoorian's funny and melancholic novel that navigates the haunted history of the Rust Belt. Zadoorian shows how music has kept the region's heart beating--especially Detroit's--even in the most crushing and confusing of times."
--Dean Bakopoulos, author of Summerlong
"Michael Zadoorian has captured an era when Detroit simmered with anger and fear while it simultaneously reverberated with the joyous noise of rock and roll. Beautiful Music eloquently evokes the beauty, confusion, and power of that late 1960s/early 1970s milieu."
--Don Was, Grammy Award-winning producer, president of Blue Note Records, cofounder of the band Was (Not Was)
"The story of Beautiful Music is painted with rich, exquisite detail and all the painful hyperawareness of growing up in a culture of mixed signals, confusion, and loss. Salvation comes through music. A miraculous safe place in which to belong."
--Nancy Wilson, singer/guitarist, Heart
"Like Nick Hornby or the great Nick Tosches, Michael Zadoorian is the rare novelist whose prose crackles with the energy of the best rock 'n' roll. Beautiful Music is a beautiful bildungsroman that does the sounds and spirit of his beloved Detroit proud."
--Jim DeRogatis, author of Let It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs
"Don't let anyone tell you that a novel can't have a soundtrack. Beautiful Music adds another chapter to Detroit's rock and roll mythology, every scene shaking with bass, drums, guitar riffs, and driving vocals. But beneath it all, Zadoorian expertly portrays a quiet boy who's navigating heartache at home, bullies at school, and racial tension in the air--a boy trusting in music to tell him that both he and his city will be okay in the end."
--Adam Schuitema, author of The Things We Do That Make No Sense
"Beautiful Music thrums like a guitar riff and rattles like a bass drum. This soulful, funny, transporting, and often electrifying novel will resonate with anyone who's found their true passion--or is still on the hunt. It's not just a great Detroit story and a great American story; it's also a story about what it means to be human. I loved this book In the words of Bob Seger, all I could do was turn the page."
--Davy Rothbart, author of My Heart Is an Idiot
Set in early 1970s Detroit, a racially divided city still reeling from its violent riot of 1967, Beautiful Music is the story of one young man's transformation through music. Danny Yzemski is a husky, pop radio-loving loner balancing a dysfunctional home life with the sudden harsh realities of freshman year at a high school marked by racial turbulence.
But after tragedy strikes the family, Danny's mother becomes increasingly erratic and angry about the seismic cultural shifts unfolding in her city and the world. As she tries to hold it together with the help of Librium, highballs, and breakfast cereal, Danny finds his own reason to carry on: rock 'n' roll. In particular, the drum and guitar-heavy songs of local legends like the MC5 and Iggy Pop. In the vein of Nick Hornby and Tobias Wolff, yet with a style very much Zadoorian's own, Beautiful Music is a touching story about the power of music and its ability to save one's soul.
Synopsis
" Zadoorian's] new novel speaks of death, race, music and youth in a voice that has been compared to Nick Hornby and Tobias Wolff. It is set in 1970's Detroit at the cusp of punk, and centers around high school loner and music fanatic Danny Yzemski. One to look forward to for fans of rock music and sad, funny writing."
--Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Set in early 1970s Detroit, a racially divided city still reeling from its violent riot of 1967, this novel is the story of a high school boy's transformation through music."
--Publishers Weekly Spring 2018 Adult Announcements, Literary Fiction
"How do we find soul-saving comfort in moments when deep personal loneliness coincides with a world gone increasingly mad? This question is at the heart of Beautiful Music, Michael Zadoorian's funny and melancholic novel that navigates the haunted history of the Rust Belt. Zadoorian shows how music has kept the region's heart beating--especially Detroit's--even in the most crushing and confusing of times."
--Dean Bakopoulos, author of Summerlong
"Michael Zadoorian has captured an era when Detroit simmered with anger and fear while it simultaneously reverberated with the joyous noise of rock and roll. Beautiful Music eloquently evokes the beauty, confusion, and power of that late 1960s/early 1970s milieu."
--Don Was, Grammy Award-winning producer, musician
"The story of Beautiful Music is painted with rich, exquisite detail and all the painful hyperawareness of growing up in a culture of mixed signals, confusion, and loss. Salvation comes through music. A miraculous safe place in which to belong."
--Nancy Wilson, singer/guitarist, Heart
"Like Nick Hornby or the great Nick Tosches, Michael Zadoorian is the rare novelist whose prose crackles with the energy of the best rock and roll. Beautiful Music is a beautiful bildungsroman that does the sounds and spirit of his beloved Detroit proud."
--Jim DeRogatis, author of Let It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs
Set in early 1970s Detroit, a divided city still reeling from its violent race riot of 1967, Beautiful Music is the story of one young man's transformation through music. Danny Yzemski is a husky, pop radio-loving loner balancing a dysfunctional homelife with the sudden harsh realities of freshman year at a high school marked by racial turbulence.
But after tragedy strikes the family, Danny's mother becomes increasingly erratic and angry about the seismic cultural shifts unfolding in her city and the world. As she tries to hold it together with the help of Librium, highballs, and breakfast cereal, Danny finds his own reason to carry on: rock and roll. In particular, the drum and guitar-heavy songs of local legends like the MC5 and Iggy Pop. In the vein of Nick Hornby and Tobias Wolff, yet with a style very much Zadoorian's own, Beautiful Music is a touching story about the power of music and its ability to save one's soul.
Synopsis
"His third novel--Beautiful Music, about a radio-loving teen's transformaiton through music during the early '70s in Detroit... is] rich with Detroit details (Korvette's, Bill Bonds, Iggy Pop), and] follows Danny through racial tensions at high school, his changing body and his imploding family life."
--Detroit Free Press
" Zadoorian's] new novel speaks of death, race, music and youth in a voice that has been compared to Nick Hornby and Tobias Wolff. It is set in 1970's Detroit at the cusp of punk, and centers around high school loner and music fanatic Danny Yzemski. One to look forward to for fans of rock music and sad, funny writing."
--Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Then there are writers and artists who journey back in time, ransack their memories of the '70s, and embellish them to create a sort of time-lapse portrait. Michael Zadoorian's fourth book, the terrific Beautiful Music, is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story."
--The Millions
" A] raucous bildungsroman...Zadoorian touches on white flight, iconic radio stations, and the racial history of Detroit, but remains rooted in protagonist] Danny's transition out of his shell. With its echoes of works by Nick Hornby and Stephen Chbosky, Zadoorian's ebullient novel is full of energy, pain, growth, and great music."
--Publishers Weekly
"This affectionate, nostalgic novel about a sometimes-troubled teen is a crossover delight with appeal to both adults and teens."
--Booklist
"A teenager in 1970s Detroit takes his first steps toward hard-rock rebellion about a soft-rock upbringing... Zadoorian is] skilled t capturing the feeling of release that music can provide ('something snaps in your heart and a jolt of pure happiness shoots through you better than all the dope in the world') as well as the anxiety the novelty of that experience can produce in a sheltered kid...A likable bildungsroman that cannily evokes how music transforms teenage identity."
--Kirkus Reviews
"Set in early 1970s Detroit, a racially divided city still reeling from its violent riot of 1967, this novel is the story of a high school boy's transformation through music."
--Publishers Weekly Spring 2018 Adult Announcements, Literary Fiction
"Zadoorian's new novel Beautiful Music is set in ravaged 1970s Detroit, and focuses on the healing power of music."
--Bay Area Reporter
"Beautiful Music reads like rock'n'roll music, and affected me deeply. Zadoorian writes a mean lyric disguised as a wonderful, emotive sentence. at the same time, Yzemski discovers how rock'n'roll music can lift one's soul."
--Stuff I Like (John Koenig Blog)
Set in early 1970s Detroit, a divided city still reeling from its violent race riot of 1967, Beautiful Music is the story of one young man's transformation through music. Danny Yzemski is a husky, pop radio-loving loner balancing a dysfunctional homelife with the sudden harsh realities of freshman year at a high school marked by racial turbulence.
But after tragedy strikes the family, Danny's mother becomes increasingly erratic and angry about the seismic cultural shifts unfolding in her city and the world. As she tries to hold it together with the help of Librium, highballs, and breakfast cereal, Danny finds his own reason to carry on: rock and roll. In particular, the drum and guitar-heavy songs of local legends like the MC5 and Iggy Pop. In the vein of Nick Hornby and Tobias Wolff, yet with a style very much Zadoorian's own, Beautiful Music is a touching story about the power of music and its ability to save one's soul.
Synopsis
"Beautiful Music is a sweet and endearing coming-of-age tale measured in album tracks."
--Wall Street Journal
"His third novel--Beautiful Music, about a radio-loving teen's transformation through music during the early '70s in Detroit... is] rich with Detroit details (Korvette's, Bill Bonds, Iggy Pop), and] follows Danny through racial tensions at high school, his changing body and his imploding family life."
--Detroit Free Press
" Zadoorian's] new novel speaks of death, race, music and youth in a voice that has been compared to Nick Hornby and Tobias Wolff. It is set in 1970's Detroit at the cusp of punk, and centers around high school loner and music fanatic Danny Yzemski. One to look forward to for fans of rock music and sad, funny writing."
--Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Michael Zadoorian's Beautiful Music takes us back to Detroit of the early 1970s, when 16-year-old Danny Yzemski, a relatable composite of shyness, unsureness, and anxiety, navigates his city and high school environments of elevated tensions and rapid change. When tragedy strikes, his favorite music saves his life."
--Daily Tribune
"Then there are writers and artists who journey back in time, ransack their memories of the '70s, and embellish them to create a sort of time-lapse portrait. Michael Zadoorian's fourth book, the terrific Beautiful Music, is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story."
--The Millions
" A] raucous bildungsroman...Zadoorian touches on white flight, iconic radio stations, and the racial history of Detroit, but remains rooted in protagonist] Danny's transition out of his shell. With its echoes of works by Nick Hornby and Stephen Chbosky, Zadoorian's ebullient novel is full of energy, pain, growth, and great music."
--Publishers Weekly
"This affectionate, nostalgic novel about a sometimes-troubled teen is a crossover delight with appeal to both adults and teens."
--Booklist
"A teenager in 1970s Detroit takes his first steps toward hard-rock rebellion about a soft-rock upbringing... Zadoorian is] skilled t capturing the feeling of release that music can provide ('something snaps in your heart and a jolt of pure happiness shoots through you better than all the dope in the world') as well as the anxiety the novelty of that experience can produce in a sheltered kid...A likable bildungsroman that cannily evokes how music transforms teenage identity."
--Kirkus Reviews
"Set in early 1970s Detroit, a racially divided city still reeling from its violent riot of 1967, this novel is the story of a high school boy's transformation through music."
--Publishers Weekly Spring 2018 Adult Announcements, Literary Fiction
Set in early 1970s Detroit, a divided city still reeling from its violent race riot of 1967, Beautiful Music is the story of one young man's transformation through music. Danny Yzemski is a husky, pop radio-loving loner balancing a dysfunctional homelife with the sudden harsh realities of freshman year at a high school marked by racial turbulence.
But after tragedy strikes the family, Danny's mother becomes increasingly erratic and angry about the seismic cultural shifts unfolding in her city and the world. As she tries to hold it together with the help of Librium, highballs, and breakfast cereal, Danny finds his own reason to carry on: rock and roll. In particular, the drum and guitar-heavy songs of local legends like the MC5 and Iggy Pop. In the vein of Nick Hornby and Tobias Wolff, yet with a style very much Zadoorian's own, Beautiful Music is a touching story about the power of music and its ability to save one's soul.
Synopsis
"Danny Yzemski tunes out a dysfunctional family with Frank Zappa and Iggy Pop, shaking his countercultural fist at The Man in this eight-track flashback of a novel set in 1970s Detroit."
--O, the Oprah Magazine, included in Summer Reading Picks/One of 'O's Top Books of Summer
"Beautiful Music is a sweet and endearing coming-of-age tale measured in album tracks."
--Wall Street Journal
"For Danny, cracking the seal on a fresh piece of wax and dissecting cover art and liner notes are acts of nigh religious experience that unveil to him a community of fellow rockers across Detroit...It's in these small moments--a lonely boy experiencing premature nostalgia--that Zadoorian shines."
--Washington Post
"His third novel--Beautiful Music, about a radio-loving teen's transformation through music during the early '70s in Detroit... is] rich with Detroit details (Korvette's, Bill Bonds, Iggy Pop), and] follows Danny through racial tensions at high school, his changing body and his imploding family life."
--Detroit Free Press
" Zadoorian's] new novel speaks of death, race, music and youth in a voice that has been compared to Nick Hornby and Tobias Wolff. It is set in 1970's Detroit at the cusp of punk, and centers around high school loner and music fanatic Danny Yzemski. One to look forward to for fans of rock music and sad, funny writing."
--Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Zadoorian takes us back to Detroit in the 1970s, which was still throbbing from the 1967 rebellion, and was in the throes of the energy crisis and the sexual revolution. Protagonist Danny Yzemski finds that growing up in such times can be...complicated. But with a little help from Iggy Pop, the MC5, and Led Zeppelin, he finds just the boost he needs to survive--and even grow a bit."
--Detroit Metro Times, included in Summer Reading roundup
"Michael Zadoorian's Beautiful Music takes us back to Detroit of the early 1970s, when 16-year-old Danny Yzemski, a relatable composite of shyness, unsureness, and anxiety, navigates his city and high school environments of elevated tensions and rapid change. When tragedy strikes, his favorite music saves his life."
--Daily Tribune
"Then there are writers and artists who journey back in time, ransack their memories of the '70s, and embellish them to create a sort of time-lapse portrait. Michael Zadoorian's fourth book, the terrific Beautiful Music, is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story."
--The Millions
Set in early 1970s Detroit, a divided city still reeling from its violent race riot of 1967, Beautiful Music is the story of one young man's transformation through music. Danny Yzemski is a husky, pop radio-loving loner balancing a dysfunctional homelife with the sudden harsh realities of freshman year at a high school marked by racial turbulence.
But after tragedy strikes the family, Danny's mother becomes increasingly erratic and angry about the seismic cultural shifts unfolding in her city and the world. As she tries to hold it together with the help of Librium, highballs, and breakfast cereal, Danny finds his own reason to carry on: rock and roll. In particular, the drum and guitar-heavy songs of local legends like the MC5 and Iggy Pop. In the vein of Nick Hornby and Tobias Wolff, yet with a style very much Zadoorian's own, Beautiful Music is a touching story about the power of music and its ability to save one's soul.
Synopsis
Adult Fiction Winner for the 2018 Great Lakes Great Reads program
"Danny Yzemski tunes out a dysfunctional family with Frank Zappa and Iggy Pop, shaking his countercultural fist at The Man in this eight-track flashback of a novel set in 1970s Detroit."
--O, the Oprah Magazine, included in Summer Reading Picks/One of 'O's Top Books of Summer
"Beautiful Music is a sweet and endearing coming-of-age tale measured in album tracks."
--Wall Street Journal
"For Danny, cracking the seal on a fresh piece of wax and dissecting cover art and liner notes are acts of nigh religious experience that unveil to him a community of fellow rockers across Detroit...It's in these small moments--a lonely boy experiencing premature nostalgia--that Zadoorian shines."
--Washington Post
"His third novel--Beautiful Music, about a radio-loving teen's transformation through music during the early '70s in Detroit... is] rich with Detroit details (Korvette's, Bill Bonds, Iggy Pop), and] follows Danny through racial tensions at high school, his changing body and his imploding family life."
--Detroit Free Press
" Zadoorian's] new novel speaks of death, race, music and youth in a voice that has been compared to Nick Hornby and Tobias Wolff. It is set in 1970's Detroit at the cusp of punk, and centers around high school loner and music fanatic Danny Yzemski. One to look forward to for fans of rock music and sad, funny writing."
--Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Zadoorian takes us back to Detroit in the 1970s, which was still throbbing from the 1967 rebellion, and was in the throes of the energy crisis and the sexual revolution. Protagonist Danny Yzemski finds that growing up in such times can be...complicated. But with a little help from Iggy Pop, the MC5, and Led Zeppelin, he finds just the boost he needs to survive--and even grow a bit."
--Detroit Metro Times, included in Summer Reading roundup
"Beautiful Music is not only a testament to the rockin' jams that propelled Motown to become reknown as Detroit Rock City, it swells with the beautiful music of a lively soul...Beautiful Music is touching, hilarious, and heartbreaking, much like the gamut of emotions you may have felt the first time you heard your favorite song. And much like that first, mind-opening musical experience, you'll return to certain passages within this novel because like the perfect song, it hits all the right notes--something you can feel deep in your gut."
--Michigan Quarterly Review
Set in early 1970s Detroit, a divided city still reeling from its violent race riot of 1967, Beautiful Music is the story of one young man's transformation through music. Danny Yzemski is a husky, pop radio-loving loner balancing a dysfunctional homelife with the sudden harsh realities of freshman year at a high school marked by racial turbulence.
But after tragedy strikes the family, Danny's mother becomes increasingly erratic and angry about the seismic cultural shifts unfolding in her city and the world. As she tries to hold it together with the help of Librium, highballs, and breakfast cereal, Danny finds his own reason to carry on: rock and roll. In particular, the drum and guitar-heavy songs of local legends like the MC5 and Iggy Pop. In the vein of Nick Hornby and Tobias Wolff, yet with a style very much Zadoorian's own, Beautiful Music is a touching story about the power of music and its ability to save one's soul.
Synopsis
"Beautiful Music is a sweet and endearing coming-of-age tale measured in album tracks." --Wall Street Journal
"An exceptional, engaging, and compelling read from first page to last." --Midwest Book Review
Set in early 1970s Detroit, a divided city still reeling from its violent race riot of 1967, Beautiful Music is the story of one young man's transformation through music. Danny Yzemski is a husky, pop radio-loving loner balancing a dysfunctional homelife with the sudden harsh realities of freshman year at a high school marked by racial turbulence.
But after tragedy strikes the family, Danny's mother becomes increasingly erratic and angry about the seismic cultural shifts unfolding in her city and the world. As she tries to hold it together with the help of Librium, highballs, and breakfast cereal, Danny finds his own reason to carry on: rock and roll. In particular, the drum and guitar-heavy songs of local legends like the MC5 and Iggy Pop. In the vein of Nick Hornby and Tobias Wolff, yet with a style very much Zadoorian's own, Beautiful Music is a touching story about the power of music and its ability to save one's soul.