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Title: King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and His Era by Edward A. Berlin ISBN: 0-19-510108-1 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: January, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $21.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (4 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Thorough
Comment: My review in two words: BUY IT.
This book is probably as thorough of a study into the life of Scott Joplin as is possible. Edward Berlin has obviously exhausted every resource available to him, and throughout, the book is well-noted - that is to say he gives credit to probably 99.9% of the sources of his information in the section for notes. Berlin has went through census records, newspapers, other books on ragtime, interviews with/statements given by numerous people affiliated with Scott Joplin and countless other sources for this book. This book is 99.9% true, solid facts; he seldom states a personal opinion, and when he does, it is made blatantly clear that that is what he is doing. This book also includes a listing of the complete known works of Scott Joplin, and the sheet music for the three songs "Good-bye Old Gal Good-bye", "Snoring Sampson" and "Lovin' Babe". (I would like to say in response to someone else's review that it is very difficult for me to see how the biography of a *musician* can be "interrupted" with music scores.)
Rating: 4
Summary: Excellent Piece of Reporting and Scholarship
Comment: Despite years of detective work by musicologists, Joplin's life remains something of a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle with half the pieces missing. Berlin's work is the most coherent and robust work on Joplin's life to date, and barring some miraculous finding (such as the Sweatman files), it is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. The depth of Berlin's reportage and the obvious breadth of his detective work (he's a superb "triangulator") give his assertions and educated guesses on Joplin's life, work and motivations far greater academic vailidity than that of many authors who have chased this musical ghost.
Rating: 4
Summary: Interesting, but slow in parts
Comment: After reading Doctorow's Ragtime and visiting Scott's St. Louis home I was eager to learn more about Scott Joplin and this book satisfied that need.
It is a detective story putting the clues together how his life was lived. This makes it an interesting read.
The only warning I would have is that it is blocky and interrupted with music scores and other interludes which don't lend itself to a reading rhythm.
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Title: Complete Piano Rags by Scott Joplin ISBN: 0486258076 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: January, 1989 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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Title: Ragtime : A Musical and Cultural History by Edward A Berlin ISBN: 0595261582 Publisher: Backinprint.Com Pub. Date: December, 2002 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Rags and Ragtime: A Musical History by David A. Jasen, Trebor Jay Tichenor ISBN: 0486259226 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: April, 1989 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: That American Rag!:The Story of Ragtime in the United States by David A. Jasen, Gene Jones ISBN: 0028647432 Publisher: Music Sales Ltd Pub. Date: February, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title:Treemonisha ASIN: B000001GGD Publisher: Polygram Records Pub. Date: 15 September, 1992 List Price(USD): $23.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $23.98 |
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