Where the Heart Beats

This excellent book takes its place among the several monographs on John Cage written in the run-up to the centenary of the American composer's birth in 1912; Kyle Gann (No Such Thing as Silence) and Kenneth Silverman (Begin Again) each contributed valuable studies of Cage. Larson, a practicing Buddhist and astute art critic, here considers in depth the Zen practices and philosophies that had a profound effect on Cage's music and writings from the late 1940s until his death in 1992. Throughout her biographical narrative, Larson includes lengthy discourses on the writings of Zen masters and other philosophers who influenced Cage. We also meet many post-World War II avant-garde luminaries whose work was inspired by Cage: musicians such as Earle Brown and Morton Feldman; artists Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Yoko Ono; and dancer and life partner Merce Cunningham. Larson peppers her narrative with quotes from Cage as well as with epigrammatic and illuminating koans, a style much favored by Cage himself in his own writings.