Seeing Through: A Chronicle of Sex, Drugs, and Opera

(Hardback)

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The true confessions of a working opera composer: an exhilarating story of "a life that comes out of chaos." At eight years old, Ricky Ian Gordon pulled The Victor Book of Opera off his piano teacher's bookshelf, and his world shifted on its axis. Though scandal, sadness, and confusion would shake that world over the next few decades, its polestar remained constant. Music has been the guiding force of Gordon's life; through it, he has been able not only to survive great sorrow but also to capture the depths of his emotion in song. It is this strength, this technical and visceral genius, that has made him one of our generation's greatest composers. In Seeing Through, Gordon writes with humor, insight, and incredible candor about his life and work: a tumultuous youth on Long Island, his artistic collaborations and obsessions, the creation of his compositions (including The Grapes of Wrath, 27, Orpheus and Euridice, Intimate Apparel, Ellen West, and more), his addictions and the abuses he endured, and the loss of his partner to AIDS and the devastation of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. As Gordon writes of that period: "We were, thousands of us, Lazarus. We had to rise from the ashes. We didn't have to rebuild our lives, we had to build new ones." Gordon has succeeded in building a remarkable life, as well as a body of work that bears witness to all he survived in the process-one that will endure as a pivotal chapter in America's songbook.

Reviews

"The noted composer and doyen of modern opera writes, brilliantly, of the many obstacles life has thrown in his path . . . A superb memoir that reveals the pleasures--but far more, the pains--of the creative life." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"This is a big book, both literally and figuratively, full of big emotions and bigger tragedies, shameful secrets and bodily obsessions as well as the thrill of creativity, the sadness of ordinary life, and all the other moments in-between. By his conclusion, he wonders if sharing his life with the world is worth it. Might it be useful to someone It is this generosity of spirit that is perhaps this book's greatest virtue." -- June Sawyers, Booklist

"With Seeing Through: A Chronicle of Sex, Drugs, and Opera, Ricky Ian Gordon controls his own narrative by shockingly telling the truth. In this day and age, that feels like a miracle." --Kelli O'Hara

"The immensely talented Ricky Ian Gordon has written a memoir that is at times hilarious, harrowing and most importantly insightful into the mind and process of a serious composer of classical and contemporary musical theater." --James Lapine, author of Putting It Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created "Sunday in the Park with George"

"Ricky Ian Gordon's Seeing Through is a remarkable story about the considerable effort it takes to be an artist and a human being, simultaneously. It's dark, it's funny, it's intimate and it's profound." --Michael Cunningham, author of Day

"Honest and complex . . . The memoir's reflections on music, Gordon's creative process, and anecdotes from the artistic arena are especially captivating." --Carol J. Binkowski, Library Journal

"With candor abounding, Ricky Ian Gordon sings the engrossing song of himself. What a lot he has survived! What a lot he has surmounted! I could read him forever." --Benjamin Taylor, author of Chasing Bright Medusas: A Life of Willa Cather

"I have never read a more candid and engrossing memoir than Seeing Through. Told in vivid detail, Ricky's story is poignant, entertaining, and ultimately inspirational." --William C. Carter, author of Marcel Proust: A Life

Author Bio

Ricky Ian Gordon was born in Oceanside, NY and raised on Long Island. After studying piano, composition, and acting, at Carnegie Mellon University, he settled in New York City, where he quickly emerged as a leading writer of vocal music that spans art song, opera, and musical theater. Gordon's songs have been performed and recorded by Rene Fleming, Dawn Upshaw, Nathan Gunn, Judy Collins, Kelli O'Hara, Audra MacDonald, Kristin Chenoweth, and many others. His works include Dream True, Orpheus and Euridice, Green Sneakers for Baritone, String Quartet, Empty Chair, and Piano, The Grapes of Wrath, and Intimate Apparel.