Silence: Lectures and Writings, 50th Anniversary Edition
“As the unchallenged father figure of American experimental music, Mr. Cage wields an influence that extends far beyond sound alone. . . . Indeed, the entire American avant-garde would be unthinkable without Mr. Cage’s music, writings, and genially patriarchical personality.”—John Rockwell, The New York Times“Of all Cage’s books, it is perhaps the first, Silence, which has had the broadest impact. Even now, artists of all sorts continue to respond to its Zen principles, its chance procedures, and its revolutionary ideas about sound, silence, form, and time.”—Dance Chronicle"'It’s the book I’ve reread most often in my life,' writes the composer-critic Kyle Gann in his illuminating foreword to the 50th anniversary edition. … To reread Silence today is to see how complex, playful, but also deeply ironic Cage’s seemingly upbeat and casual aesthetic really was." —Marjorie Perloff, Los Angeles Review of Books“Cage’s 1959 ‘Lecture on Nothing’…remains a touchstone for artists thinking about how to empty their work of themselves. It has just reappeared in a 50th anniversary edition of Cage’s classic first book, Silence.” —Kenneth Baker, San Francisco Chronicle