Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
Categories
Biography, Literature & Literary studies

BEAUTIFUL MUSIC

Michael Zadoorian

In the vein of Nick Hornby and Tobias Wolff yet with a style very much Michael Zadoorian's own BEAUTIFUL MUSIC is a touching story about the power of music and its ability to save one's soul.

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 market by racial turbulence.

But after tragedy strikes the family, Danny's mother becomes increasingly erratic and angry about the seismic cultural shifts unfolding around the world. As she soldiers on with the help of Librium, highballs, and breakfast cereal, Danny soon discovers rock music and, in particular, the drum and guitar-heavy songs of Michigan legends like the MC5 and Iggy Pop, finding reason to carry on.

Michael Zadoorian is the author of the critically-praisedThe Leisure Seeker,now being made into a film starring Donald Sutherland and Helen Mirren (Sony Pictures),Second Hand, and the short story collection,The Lost Tiki Palaces of Detroit.He is a recipient of the Kresge Artist Fellowship in the Literary Arts,the Columbia University Anahid Literary Award, the Michigan Notable Book award and the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award. His work has appeared inThe Literary Review, Beloit Fiction Journal, American Short Fiction, Witness, Great Lakes Review, North American Review

Rights sold to THE LEISURE SEEKER:UK, Australian/HarperCollins; Czech/HarperCollins; Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish/Harper Nordic; Dutch/ HarperCollins; French/Fleuve Noir; German/ HarperCollins; Hebrew/Dani Books; Italian/Marcos y Marcos; Hungarian/Mira; Japanese/Tokyo Sogensha; Korean/Sigongsa; Polish/ HarperCollins; Portuguese; HarperCollins; Spanish/ HarperCollins

Available products
Book Published 2018-05-01 by Akashic
Book Published 2018-05-01 by Akashic Books - Brooklyn (USA)

Comments

The novel is notable for being a coming-of-age story without a romantic peg....Zadoorian keeps the tone upbeat in other ways: He's skilled at 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.

[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.

With its echoes of works by Nick Hornby and Stephen Chbosky, Zadoorian's ebullient novel is full of energy, pain, growth, and great music.

This affectionate, nostalgic novel about a sometimes-troubled teen is a crossover delight with appeal to both adults and teens.

French: Fleuve Editions ; Greek: Haramada ; Italian: Marcos Y Marcos