Devil Sent the Rain: Music and Writing in Desperate America

(Paperback)

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In his first book of nonfiction since the seminal post-Katrinameditation Why New Orleans Matters, acclaimed cultural critic Tom Piazza offers a new collection of essays and writings on music, film, literature, and politics, in Devil Sent the Rain. Named for a blues song by the legendary Charley Patton, Devil Sent the Rainfuses Piazzas passion for and knowledge of American music with his brilliance as a literary writer in a collection of essays, articles, criticism, and interviews. Ranging across the American landscape, Piazza offers profiles of cultural icons and literary pioneers including:

Reverend Willie Morganfield, cousin to Muddy Waters, who explains the often inscrutable distinction between the sacred and the secular.

Jimmy Martin, a promethean bluegrass singer explored in Piazza's unforgettable portraita finalist for the Ralph J. Gleason award.

Charlie Chan, the stoic, subversive film hero who offers a model of wisdom in the face of post-flood chaos.

Norman Mailer, in a discussion of new journalism and national character.

Theheroes of the blues, ina Grammy Award-winning essay written to accompany the boxed audio recordingsof Martin Scorsese Presents: The Blues.

Jimmie Rodgers, Charley Patton, Jelly Roll Morton, Joe Liggins, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, and more, in searching profiles.

As Piazza probes the contemporary American landscape, his contextual commentary illuminates the time, place, and cultural moment surrounding each piece in the collection. With flashing insight, style, and wit, Piazza ties together a collection of outstanding journalistic writing with a penetrating understanding of American cultural traditions and the questions we face as readers, listeners, and citizens.

Reviews

"Tom Piazza's writing is filled with energy and tender, insightful words for the brilliant and irascible, from Jimmy Martin to Norman Mailer. He identifies the unlikely, precious connections between recent events, art, letters, and music; through his words, these byways of popular culture provide an unexpected measure of the times." -- Elvis Costello

"Tom Piazza's writing pulsates with nervous electrical tension--reveals the emotions that we can't define." -- Bob Dylan

Author Bio

Tom Piazza is the author of the novels City of Refuge and My Cold War, the post-Katrina manifesto Why New Orleans Matters, the essay collection Devil Sent the Rain, and many other works. He was a principal writer for the HBO drama series Treme and the winner of a Grammy Award for his album notes to Martin Scorsese Presents: The Blues: A Musical Journey. He lives in New Orleans.