"After the Fireworks is a major work and a turning point for Huxley, leading directly to Brave New World.” --Gary Giddins
In After the Fireworks, three lost classic pieces of short fiction by Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World, are collected for the first time, with an original foreword by National Book Critics Circle Awardwinner Gary Giddins. In the title novella, Rome is the stunning backdrop for a renowned novelist’s dangerous affair. “Uncle Spencer” is the “exquisite” (New Statesman) tale of an aging World War I veteran’s quest for the lost love he met in a prison during the war, and “Two or Three Graces,” “probably the thing nearest perfection of all that [Huxley] has done” (New Statesman), recounts a destructive writer’s abusive relationship with an impressionable housewife. Now brought back in print for the first time in seventy-five years, the novellas newly collected in After the Fireworks reveal Aldous Huxley at the height of his powers.

After the Fireworks: Three Novellas

Humor & Entertainment

GIDDINS, Gary

HUXLEY, ALDOUS

Humor

Harper-perennial

"After the Fireworks is a major work and a turning point for Huxley, leading directly to Brave New World.” —Gary Giddins 
A striking collection of three lost classic pieces of short fiction by Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World, now available as a Harper Perennial Olive Edition. 
In the title novella, set in Rome, a renowned novelist sets out on a walk down Via Condotti toward the Spanish Steps when he encounters a mysterious and beautiful young American admirer of his work. He discovers she shares a name, in addition to conspicuous personality traits, with a character from his most celebrated book. Both are irresistibly drawn into a dangerous affair set against the backdrop of the Italian capital. "Uncle Spencer" is the story of an aging World War I veteran’s quest for his lost love he met in a prison during the war, and "Two or Three Graces"isthe tale of a passionate and destructive writer’s abusive relationship with an impressionable, bourgeois housewife. This extraordinary story collection reveals Huxley at the height of his literary powers. 
This book part of a special series from Harper Perennial called Olive Editions—exclusive small-format editions of some of our bestselling and celebrated titles, featuring beautiful and unique hand-drawn cover illustrations. All Olive Editions are available for a limited time only

After the Fireworks: Three Novellas (Harper Perennial Olive Editions)

Literature & Fiction

Humor & Satire

Riding on a Blue Note: Jazz and American Pop

Essays consider the contributions of top jazz and pop singers, musicians, and composers, the problem of commercialization, and the history of jazz

Arts & Photography

Music

Oxford University Press

Essays consider the contributions of top jazz and pop singers, musicians, and composers, the problem of commercialization, and the history of jazz

Essays consider the work of Sarah Vaughan, Teddy Wilson, Tony Bennett, Roy Eldridge, Lester Young, Joe Turner, Art Pepper, Sonny Stitt, Woody Herman, Wynton Marsalis, and Frank Sinatra

Rhythm-a-ning: Jazz Tradition and Innovation in the '80s

Rhythm-a-ning: Jazz Tradition and Innovation in the 80's

As an essayist and Village Voice columnist, Gary Giddins is widely known as a preeminent jazz writer. Walter Clemons, writing in Newsweek, hailed him as "the best jazz critic now at work," praising his "elegant prose" and "encyclopedic knowledge." Yet he has won a devoted audience for his reflections on popular culture, books, and movies as well--including a marvelous essay on Jack Benny that Gay Talese selected for Best American Essays of 1987. In Faces in the Crowd, Giddins once again demonstrates his graceful style and sharp wit in a brilliant collection of critiques, assessments, and profiles of major figures in the culture of our century. Faces in the Crowd is a virtual Gary Giddins reader, a potent collection of his finest writing from the last fifteen years. Ranging from fond reflection to interview-and-commentary to close critical analysis, Giddins explores the achievements of thirty-seven artists: show people, divas, musicians, and writers, ranging from Irving Berlin to Spike Lee, Billie Holliday to Kay Starr, Louis Armstrong to Miles Davis, Elias Canetti to Philip Roth. Through every essay, his observations are sharp, his reactions honest, his judgments right on target. In "This Guy Wouldn't Give You the Parsely off his Fish," for example, he shows how Jack Benny revolutionized comedy, creating a memorable character who was the butt of every joke. He takes a new look at the great Dinah Washington, remarking that "few performers have taken a stage or stormed off one with quite the noblesse oblige of the Queen." Giddins also offers a fresh assessment of James M. Cain and other masters of hard-boiled detective fiction, and he delivers an aggressive critique of the liberties academics have taken with such classic texts as Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury. Along the way, he reveals how he uncovered the true birthdate of Louis Armstrong; chats with Clint Eastwood about Charlie Parker; and exposes the curious plagiarism of Katherine Anne Porter by her own biographer. And of course, he writes with power and authority on the great jazz musicians, providing an original perspective on Benny Goodman, tracking the evolving musical adventures of Sonny Rollins, and offering a musicological study of two Dizzy Gillespie solos separated by forty years. Pete Hamill has written, "Nobody writes with greater authority about American music than Gary Giddins," and Ken Tucker has called him "the John Updike of jazz criticism." In this provocative and immensely entertaining collection, Giddins shows why he has become one of the most influential critics of his generation.

Faces in the Crowd: Players and Writers

Visions of Jazz: The First Century

Already a jazz classic, Gary Giddins' Visions of Jazz: The First Century contains no less than 78 chapters illuminating the lives of virtually all major figures in jazz history. From Louis Armstrong's renegade style trumpet playing to Frank Sinatra's intimate crooning, jazz critic Gary Giddins continually astonishes us with his unparalleled insight. In just a few lines, he captures the essence of Louis Armstrong, "He could telegraph with a growl or a rolling of his eyes his independence, confidence, and security. As the embodiment of jazz, he made jazz the embodiment of the individual." Giddins maintains, contrary to the opinion of most jazz enthusiasts, that Armstrongs voice was as much an integral part of creating jazz singing as his trumpet was to creating jazz. Perhaps the most remarkable chapters in the book are those that do pay tribute to the great jazz singers. Billie Holiday profoundly impacted music history, and Giddins eloquently honors her "gutted voice, drawled phrasing, and wayworn features." Many artists, such as Irving Berlin and Rosemary Clooney, have been traditionally dismissed by fans and critics as merely popular derivatives of true jazz. Giddins finally opens the doors of jazz to include these musicians. In addition to this, he devotes an entire quarter of this volume to young, active jazz artists. No other book has so boldly expanded the horizon of jazz and its influences. Visions of Jazz is an evocative journey through the first one hundred years of jazz that will captivate--and challenge--musicians, music critics, and music lovers.

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

Poised to become a classic of jazz literature, Visions of Jazz: The First Century offers seventy-nine chapters illuminating the lives of virtually all the major figures in jazz history. From Louis Armstrong's renegade-style trumpet playing to Sarah Vaughan's operatic crooning, and from the swinging elegance of Duke Ellington to the pioneering experiments of Ornette Coleman, jazz critic Gary Giddins continually astonishes the reader with his unparalleled insight. Writing with the grace and wit that have endeared his prose to Village Voice readers for decades, Giddins also widens the scope of jazz to include such crucial American musicians as Irving Berlin, Rosemary Clooney, and Frank Sinatra, all primarily pop performers who are often dismissed by fans and critics as mere derivatives of the true jazz idiom. And he devotes an entire quarter of this landmark volume to young, still-active jazz artists, boldly expanding the horizons of jazz--and charting and exploring the music's influences as no other book has done.

Gary Giddins's magnificent book Visions of Jazz has been hailed as a landmark in music criticism. Jonathan Yardley in The Washington Post called it "the definitive compendium by the most interesting jazz critic now at work." And Alfred Appel, Jr., in The New York Times Book Review, said it was "the finest unconventional history of jazz ever written." It was the first work on jazz ever to win the National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism. Now comes Weather Bird, a brilliant companion volume to Visions of Jazz. In this superb collection of essays, reviews and articles, Giddins brings together, for the first time, more than 140 pieces written over a 14-year period, most of them for his column in the Village Voice (also called "Weather Bird"). The book is first and foremost a celebration of jazz, with illuminating commentary on contemporary jazz events, on today's top musicians, on the best records of the year, and on leading figures from jazz's past. Readers will find extended pieces on Louis Armstrong, Erroll Garner, Benny Carter, Sonny Rollins, Dave Brubeck, Ornette Coleman, Billie Holiday, Cassandra Wilson, Tony Bennett, and many others. Giddins includes a series of articles on the annual JVC Jazz Festival, which taken together offer a splendid overview of jazz in the 1990s. Other highlights include an astute look at avant-garde music ("Parajazz") and his challenging essay, "How Come Jazz Isn't Dead?" which advances a theory about the way art is born, exploited, celebrated, and sidelined to the museum. A radiant compendium by America's leading music critic, Weather Bird offers an unforgettable look at the modern jazz scene.

Weather Bird: Jazz at the Dawn of Its Second Century

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by GIDDINS, Gary. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by GIDDINS, Gary

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by GIDDINS, Gary. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

After the Fireworks: Three Novellas

After the Fireworks: Three Novellas (Harper Perennial Olive Editions)

Riding on a Blue Note: Jazz and American Pop

Riding on a Blue Note: Jazz and American Pop

Rhythm-a-ning: Jazz Tradition and Innovation in the '80s

Rhythm-a-ning: Jazz Tradition and Innovation in the 80's

Faces in the Crowd: Players and Writers

Visions of Jazz: The First Century

Visions of Jazz: The First Century

Weather Bird: Jazz at the Dawn of Its Second Century