Re: expanding my library

dear Jared,

Here's my Cage-literature list, in anarchic order...
hope this will inspire you.

By Cage:
M: Writings ’67–’72, 1973 by Wesleyan University Press — my favorite
X: writings '79-'82, 1983 by Wesleyan University Press
Empty Words: Writings '73-'78, 1979 by Wesleyan University Press
Silence: Lectures and Writings, Wesleyan; 1st edition (June 15, 1961)  
— essential
A Year from Monday: New Lectures and Writings, Wesleyan; 1st edition  
(May 15, 1967)
Themes and Variations, Station Hill Press (June 1982) — out of print,  
but this is a very interesting text
I-VI: MethodStructureInten... (Cage's Charles Eliot Norton Lectures),  
Wesleyan (October 15, 1997)
Composition In Retrospect, Exact Change (October 1, 2008)
FOR THE BIRDS, In Conversation with Daniel Charles. 239 pp. Boston:  
Marion Boyars — a brilliant discussion book
John Cage Book of Days 2011, The John Cage Trust; Egmt Min edition  
(July 31, 2010)
Anarchy: New York City-January 1998, Wesleyan; 1st Wesleyan ed  
edition (July 15, 2001)
Notations, Something Else Press; First Edition edition (1969) — out  
of print, a great book

On Cage:
The Cambridge companion to John Cage By David Nicholls — one of the  
best resources about Cage
Joan Retallack, Musicage: Cage muses on Words-Art-Music, New England  
1996 — discussions about art, aesthetics and concepts
Marjorie Perloff & Charles Junkerman, John Cage: Composed in America,  
Chicago 1994
James Pritchett, The Music of John Cage. Cambridge: Cambridge  
University Press, 1993
The Roaring Silence: John Cage: A Life by David Revill
The Boulez-Cage Correspondence [Paperback], Jean-Jacques Nattiez  
(Editor), Robert Samuels (Editor), Cambridge University Press  
(January 27, 1995) — important correspondence document

Books and writers that influenced Cage:
Norman O. Brown, Love's Body. New York: Random House, 1966
Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro. (1927) Essays in Zen Buddhism. Series no. 1.  
London: Luzac. — essential
———. (1933) Essays in Zen Buddhism. Series no. 2. London: Luzac.
———. (1934) Essays in Zen Buddhism. Series no. 3. London: Luzac.
Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy, The Transformation of Nature in Art,  
(Sterling Pub Private Ltd, 1996)
Journal by Henry David Thoreau — essential
The Portable Thoreau (Portable Library, Penguin Books, 698 pages) —  
essential
Ulysses by James Joyce — essential
Finnegans Wake by James Joyce

and the writings of

Gertrude Stein
Buckminster Fuller
Marshall McLuhan
Aristotle
Marcel Duchamp
Ezra Pound

Best,
Ralph Li
http://lichtensteiger.net


On Jun 24, 2011, at 3:30 AM, Jared Steward wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> I thought I'd start with an introduction, since I've been a  
> "lurker" on this for the past year or so. First of all, I'm a  
> little envious of those of you who knew Cage personally, since I  
> actually didn't learn about him until college in the early to mid  
> 90s when it was too late to meet him!  I'm a percussionist and hope  
> to learn as much as I can about John Cage and his circle of friends  
> and associates. As part of that goal, I've started a web "museum"  
> called Cageum, where I'm putting YouTube clips, audio and other  
> things I've found regarding the subject. If you're interested, the  
> link is below.
>
> The reason I really wanted to write, is because I'd like to expand  
> my library regarding Cage and was wondering what suggestions any of  
> you might have as your top choice of books or recordings or videos.  
> I already have "Silence", Carolyn Brown's "Chance and  
> Circumstance", Elliot Caplan's "Cage/Cunningham" DVD and a few CDs.  
> I've been thinking about getting Gann's book about 4'33'', but what  
> would you list as your top 5 or top 10 books/CDs, etc by or about  
> Cage?
>
> Looking forward to your responses!
>
> Jared
>
> website: jared.stewardsweb.net
> twitter: twitter.com/jaredsteward
> blog: Cageum
>