Please join us as we talk to Alex Ross, the classical music critic of The New Yorker magazine. His long-anticipated history of the music in the 20th century will finally be published on October 16 - The Rest is Noise (FSG). Our conversation will entail the discussion of his book, as well as the interesting, hybridized state of classical music today, what it might mean in the context of the larger cultural history, and what people really mean when they say that classical music is dead.

What they are saying about The Rest is Noise:

"The Rest is Noise is cultural history the way cultural history should be written: a single strong narrative operating on many levels at once. What more do you want from a book? That it be intelligently, artfully, and lucidly written? It's those things, too."

- Louis Menand

"Fast-forwarding through so many music-makers' creative highs and lows in the company of Alex Ross's incredibly nourishing book will rekindle anyone's fire for music."

- Björk

"The Rest is Noise reads like a sprawling, intense novel, one of utopian dreams, doom, and consolation, with the most extraordinary cast of characters from music and history alike. A great, inspiring ride."

- Osvaldo Golijov