A Year from Monday: New Lectures and Writings

by John Cage

Book Overview

Includes lectures, essays, diaries and other writings, including "How to Improve the World (You Will Only Make Matters Worse)" and "Juilliard Lecture."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0819560022
• ISBN13: 9780819560025
• Release Date: May 1967
• Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
• Length: 179 Pages
• Weight: 0.71 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.0" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up

Customer Reviews

Very Interesting

I find his book very interesting and informative in many ways. Most of it is very difficult to read because 1. John Cage is extremely intellectual, and 2. He is very avan garde, so some of the formats in which he writes in can be very complicated. I enjoy it being complicated though because there is something you can always figure out about it or just look into very closely. My favorite subject of this book are his journal/diary entries. They include entries of him away at master classes and the things that he talks about are humorous, great to know, and interesting to think about. I recommend this selection of John Cage highly.

or: today(?)

Yes. The second collection of John Cage's writings to appear (after Silence), A year From Monday is indispensable to anyone wishing to have more than a passing understanding of Cage's work and thought. In usual Cage fashion, the lectures, essays, "diaries," anecdotes, and assorted miscellanea jump off the page - utilizing an increasingly diverse array of typefaces and sizes, the writings contained here blaze the trail that leads to the mesostics and other verbal experiments that characterize the remainder of Cage's literary work beginning with M: Writings '67-'72. Including, amongst numerous other gems, the "Two Statements on Ives," "26 Statements re Duchamp," "Jasper Johns: Stories and Ideas," the "Julliard Lecture," "Lecture on Commitment," and a collection of personal reminiscences/Zen riddles entitled "How to Pass, Kick, Fall, and Run," A Year From Monday contains an overflow of priceless Cageisms. Beginning with an unforgettable cover (three slightly-overlapping photos of Cage's face, the first serious, the second beginning to open up, the third in full cackle) and never slowing down, the collection demonstrates perfectly Cage's relevance to musicians firstly, and thinkers finally. From one of the most significant and influential composers of the 20th century, A year From Monday demonstrates the originality, openness, and precision of thought that make Cage relevant to a much broader audience than simply the avante-garde musician.