Beautiful Music

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"Beautiful Music is a sweet and endearing coming-of-age tale measured in album tracks."
--Wall Street Journal

"His third novel--Beautiful Music, about a radio-loving teen's transformation through music during the early '70s in Detroit...[is] rich with Detroit details (Korvette's, Bill Bonds, Iggy Pop), [and] follows Danny through racial tensions at high school, his changing body and his imploding family life."
--Detroit Free Press

"[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."
--Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Michael Zadoorian's Beautiful Music takes us back to Detroit of the early 1970s, when 16-year-old Danny Yzemski, a relatable composite of shyness, unsureness, and anxiety, navigates his city and high school environments of elevated tensions and rapid change. When tragedy strikes, his favorite music saves his life."
--Daily Tribune

"Then there are writers and artists who journey back in time, ransack their memories of the '70s, and embellish them to create a sort of time-lapse portrait. Michael Zadoorian's fourth book, the terrific Beautiful Music, is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story."
--The Millions

"[A] raucous bildungsroman...Zadoorian touches on white flight, iconic radio stations, and the racial history of Detroit, but remains rooted in [protagonist] Danny's transition out of his shell. With its echoes of works by Nick Hornby and Stephen Chbosky, Zadoorian's ebullient novel is full of energy, pain, growth, and great music."
--Publishers Weekly

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

"A teenager in 1970s Detroit takes his first steps toward hard-rock rebellion about a soft-rock upbringing...[Zadoorian is] skilled t 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."
--Kirkus Reviews

"Set in early 1970s Detroit, a racially divided city still reeling from its violent riot of 1967, this novel is the story of a high school boy's transformation through music."
--Publishers Weekly Spring 2018 Adult Announcements, Literary Fiction

Set in early 1970s Detroit, a divided city still reeling from its violent race riot of 1967, Beautiful Music is the story of one young man's transformation through music. Danny Yzemski is a husky, pop radioloving loner balancing a dysfunctional homelife with the sudden harsh realities of freshman year at a high school marked by racial turbulence.

But after tragedy strikes the family, Danny's mother becomes increasingly erratic and angry about the seismic cultural shifts unfolding in her city and the world. As she tries to hold it together with the help of Librium, highballs, and breakfast cereal, Danny finds his own reason to carry on: rock and roll. In particular, the drum and guitarheavy songs of local legends like the MC5 and Iggy Pop. In the vein of Nick Hornby and Tobias Wolff, yet with a style very much Zadoorian's own, Beautiful Music is a touching story about the power of music and its ability to save one's soul.

Reviews

"Beautiful Music is not only a testament to the rockin' jams that propelled Motown to become reknown as Detroit Rock City, it swells with the beautiful music of a lively soul...Beautiful Music is touching, hilarious, and heartbreaking, much like the gamut of emotions you may have felt the first time you heard your favorite song. And much like that first, mind-opening musical experience, you'll return to certain passages within this novel because like the perfect song, it hits all the right notes--something you can feel deep in your gut."
--Michigan Quarterly Review

"A fantastic book...A very compelling read."
--Stateside, Michigan NPR

"A delightful trip down a memory lane in the '60s with a soundtrack folks of a certain age will all recognize."
--Lansing City Pulse

"This is a must read for any Detroit native."
--MLive

"[A] knockout...Exceptionally entertaining...If you haven't discovered Zadoorian's books, you're in for a real treat!"
--Lansing State Journal

On the Morning Sun's Best-Selling Book List by Michigan Authors, August 2018

"Zadoorian captures the inner and outer life of Danny Yzemski with perfect pitch...When Danny unwraps a new album, the reader experiences the feel and look of it, the smell of the liner, hears the hiss and pop when the needle first makes contact with vinyl...Beautiful Music is a novel that lingers."
--Santa Barbara Independent

"If you grew up in the age of slow dancing, sock hops, transistor radios, powerhouse rock stations, record stores, first love and last kisses--you will love Michael Zadoorian's new novel, Beautiful Music."
--Lansing City Pulse

"Michael Zadoorian's Beautiful Music takes us back to Detroit of the early 1970s, when 16-year-old Danny Yzemski, a relatable composite of shyness, unsureness, and anxiety, navigates his city and high school environments of elevated tensions and rapid change. When tragedy strikes, his favorite music saves his life."
--Daily Tribune

"No matter your age or your generation, the music you listened to in high school claims a special place in your heart."
--Stateside, Michigan NPR

"Then there are writers and artists who journey back in time, ransack their memories of the '70s, and embellish them to create a sort of time-lapse portrait. Michael Zadoorian's fourth book, the terrific Beautiful Music, is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story."
--The Millions

"I read Beautiful Music compulsively until its end, captivated by the sympathetic character of Danny. I was left with the satisfying, 'Wait a minute, this wasn't really about music at all' feeling that I demand of music writing. But then I had to admit that it really was about rock, its power to heal and transcend. Zadoorian had an easy book to write. His refusal to write it the easy way makes all the difference."
--Razorcake

"[A] raucous bildungsroman...Zadoorian touches on white flight, iconic radio stations, and the racial history of Detroit, but remains rooted in [protagonist] Danny's transition out of his shell. With its echoes of works by Nick Hornby and Stephen Chbosky, Zadoorian's ebullient novel is full of energy, pain, growth, and great music."
--Publishers Weekly

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

"A teenager in 1970s Detroit takes his first steps toward hard-rock rebellion about a soft-rock upbringing...[Zadoorian is] skilled t 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."
--Kirkus Reviews

"An exceptional, engaging, and compelling read from first page to last."
--Midwest Book Review

"Zadoorian's new novel Beautiful Music is set in ravaged 1970s Detroit, and focuses on the healing power of music."
--Bay Area Reporter

"Set in early 1970s Detroit, a racially divided city still reeling from its violent riot of 1967, this novel is the story of a high school boy's transformation through music."
--Publishers Weekly Spring 2018 Adult Announcements, Literary Fiction

"Every once in a while, a book comes along that makes you happy as you read it. This new novel by Michael Zadoorian was that book for me."
--Girl Who Reads, One of the Best Books of 2018

"Beautiful Music reads like rock'n'roll music, and affected me deeply. Zadoorian writes a mean lyric disguised as a wonderful, emotive sentence. at the same time, Yzemski discovers how rock'n'roll music can lift one's soul."
--Stuff I Like (John Koenig Blog)

"I am such a huge fan of this book and this author. Beautiful Music, set in 1970s Detroit is just what the title states. A young Danny Yzemski is growing up chunky kid with a love of pop radio and an turbulent home life. He starts his freshman year in a new school being confronted by racial tension issues previously he only experienced through the news and his mother's snide comments. When a tragedy happens, Danny's mom becomes more and more obsessed with the world's cultural changes and tries to drive them out of her life with booze and pills. In this storm, Danny finds comfort in music. Like beautiful music, this book is permeated with the power to make you sad, lift you up, and carry you home."
--Fountain Bookstore, staff pick

"It's so many real life things all balled up that you can't help but be immersed in it. You find yourself turning the pages, nodding your head, laughing out loud, all of the emotions. I just really adored this book and it feels like a perfect summer read. Maybe pack it on your way to your outdoor music festival, what a tribute."
--Stranded in Chaos

"This is a wonderful nostalgic coming of age story--with the help of lots of music and for readers of a certain age, it will bring back plenty of memories. I highly recommend this book to any age!"
--Girl Who Reads

"How do we find soul-saving comfort in moments when deep personal loneliness coincides with a world gone increasingly mad This question is at the heart of Beautiful Music, Michael Zadoorian's funny and melancholic novel that navigates the haunted history of the Rust Belt. Zadoorian shows how music has kept the region's heart beating--especially Detroit's--even in the most crushing and confusing of times."
--Dean Bakopoulos, author of Summerlong

"Michael Zadoorian has captured an era when Detroit simmered with anger and fear while it simultaneously reverberated with the joyous noise of rock and roll. Beautiful Music eloquently evokes the beauty, confusion, and power of that late 1960s/early 1970s milieu."
--Don Was, Grammy Award-winning producer, musician

"The story of Beautiful Music is painted with rich, exquisite detail and all the painful hyperawareness of growing up in a culture of mixed signals, confusion, and loss. Salvation comes through music. A miraculous safe place in which to belong."
--Nancy Wilson, singer/guitarist, Heart

"Like Nick Hornby or the great Nick Tosches, Michael Zadoorian is the rare novelist whose prose crackles with the energy of the best rock and roll. Beautiful Music is a beautiful bildungsroman that does the sounds and spirit of his beloved Detroit proud."
--Jim DeRogatis, author of Let It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs

"Popping with Detroit cultural landmarks, Beautiful Music wraps a disturbing yet humorous tale of beleaguered adolescence in 1970s Motor City around the A-list rock music that made the dingy landscape an aural playground."
--Steve Miller, author of Detroit Rock City

"Don't let anyone tell you that a novel can't have a soundtrack. Beautiful Music adds another chapter to Detroit's rock and roll mythology, every scene shaking with bass, drums, guitar riffs, and driving vocals. But beneath it all, Zadoorian expertly portrays a quiet boy who's navigating heartache at home, bullies at school, and racial tension in the air--a boy trusting in music to tell him that both he and his city will be okay in the end."
--Adam Schuitema, author of The Things We Do That Make No Sense

"Beautiful Music thrums like a guitar riff and rattles like a bass drum. This soulful, funny, transporting, and often electrifying novel will resonate with anyone who's found their true passion--or is still on the hunt. It's not just a great Detroit story and a great American story; it's also a story about what it means to be human. I loved this book! In the words of Bob Seger, all I could do was turn the page."
--Davy Rothbart, contributor to This American Life

"Like a song you can't stop playing, Beautiful Music casts a spell on your heart. With clarity and tenderness, Zadoorian sweeps us into a life that we recognize as our own. Remember when you were lonely, scared, unsure, and then somehow found your own ki

Author Bio

Michael Zadoorian is the author of the critically praised The Leisure Seeker--now a film starring Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland, released by Sony Pictures Classics this year. Zadoorian is a recipient of a Kresge Artist Fellowship in the Literary Arts, the Columbia University Anahid Literary Award, the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award, and the Michigan Notable Book Award. His other books are Second Hand: A Novel, and the story collection The Lost Tiki Palaces of Detroit. His fiction has appeared in the Literary Review, Beloit Fiction Journal, American Short Fiction, Witness, Great Lakes Review, and the North American Review. He lives with his wife in the Detroit area.