Lexicon of Musical Invective

Book excerpt: An anthology of critical assaults on well-known composers and their works written by the late Nicolas Slonimsky--writer, lexicographer, pianist, composer, conductor, teacher, and in his own words, "legendary...musicologist of manifold endeavors [and] failed wunderkind." It also includes his "Invecticon," an index to the nasty words and phrases found in the book. This is a reprint of the 1953 edition with a new foreword by Peter Schickele who describes the collection as "funny and instructive." c. Book News Inc.