Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Stephen Colbert calls Andr s Simonyi "the only ambassador I know who can shred a mean guitar " In fact, Simonyi, the former Hungarian ambassador to the U.S., may be the only diplomat to also front a rock band. And as both, he has witnessed two of the most powerful forces in modern life: democracy and rock and roll. In ROCKING TOWARD A FREE WORLD, Simonyi reflects on the profound effect of those two forces in his life. He details the struggle of growing up behind the Iron Curtain in 1960s Hungary, and how under a communist regime music was powerful but furtive: records were black-market bootlegs; concerts were held in secret; protests were hidden in lyrics. To get caught meant punishment, even prison.
But Simonyi was determined and knew how music could feed the culturally impoverished. Inspired by the protest music coming out of the US and the UK, he formed a band, befriended musicians, and became part of the burgeoning rock scene. There were setbacks, the oppression of the regime, and the collapse of his own dreams of stardom. But Simonyi came of age in step with his struggling homeland. By 1989, when a watershed Amnesty International concert in Budapest helped signal lasting change in Hungary, it was Simonyi, now a bureaucrat, who helped make the concert a reality. That same year, the Berlin Wall fell, and communism began its collapse. Inspiring and moving, ROCKING TOWARD A FREE WORLD shows the soft power of rock and roll as a driver of change, and how it inspired one boy to make a difference in his country and the world.
Synopsis
From the former Hungarian ambassador to the U.S. comes a timely and deeply personal memoir of one man's quest for rock and roll, and his deep desire for freedom from behind the Iron Curtain.
Stephen Colbert calls Andr s Simonyi "the only ambassador I know who can shred a mean guitar " In fact, Simonyi, the former Hungarian ambassador to the U.S., may be the only diplomat to also front a rock band. And as both, he has witnessed the rise of two of the most powerful forces in the modern world: global democracy and rock and roll.
In ROCKING TOWARD A FREE WORLD, Simonyi details the struggle of growing up behind the Iron Curtain in 1960s Hungary, a world in which listening to his favorite music was a powerful but furtive endeavor: records were black-market bootlegs; concerts were held in secret; protests were folded into song lyrics. To get caught meant punishment, even prison. But Simonyi knew firsthand how rock music could feed the culturally impoverished and create change. Inspired by the protest music coming out of the West, he formed a band, befriended musicians, and became part of the burgeoning underground rock and roll scene. Then came the setbacks: oppression by the regime, the collapse of his own dreams of stardom, and the seemingly inescapable weight of the Iron Curtain.
Inspiring, moving, and a testament to one man's strength of will, ROCKING TOWARD A FREE WORLD shows the soft power of rock and roll as a driving force for political revolution, and how it inspired one person to make a difference in his country and the world.
Synopsis
From renowned diplomat and musician Andr s Simonyi -- whom Stephen Colbert calls "the only ambassador I know who can shred a mean guitar " -- comes a timely and revealing memoir about growing up behind the Iron Curtain and longing for freedom while chasing the great power of rock and roll.
In ROCKING TOWARD A FREE WORLD, Simonyi charts the struggle of growing up in 1960s Hungary, a world in which listening to his favorite music was a powerful but dangerous, furtive endeavor: records were black-market bootlegs; concerts were held under strict control, even banned; protests were folded into song lyrics. Get caught listening to Western radio and one might face punishment, even prison. That didn't matter to Simonyi, who from an early age felt the tremendous pull of rock and roll, the lure of American popular culture, and a burning desire to buck the system. Inspired by the protest music coming out of the West, he formed a band and became part of Hungary's burgeoning rock scene. Then came the setbacks: tightening of control by the state, the seemingly inescapable weight of an authoritarian system, and the collapse of Simonyi's own dreams of stardom.
A story of youth, rebellion, and hope, ROCKING TOWARD A FREE WORLD sheds new light on two of the most powerful forces of the modern age: global democracy and rock and roll. Deeply vital and compelling, Simonyi's memoir chronicles how one man's tremendous connection to American and British popular music inspired him to make a difference in his country and, eventually, the world. It tells the story of a generation, as played out in song lyrics and guitar riffs.
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