Published by Penguin two weeks ago, Kay Larson's Where the Heart Beats: John Cage, Zen Buddhism, and the Inner Life of Artists [Kindle] integrates gay life into the narrative better than did a recent Cage biography, which received far more attention. If you have any interest in the composer, his circle of friends, Eastern religion, or the making of art, seek out this book. The Boston Globe critic writes:
"For much of his life, like a Zen disciple, Cage sought to make art that honored the transitory sounds and events of everyday life. His rule-breaking forays into what became known as installation, performance and conceptual art paved the way to the avant-garde movements that still perplex audiences today.
"Consider his friends and followers: Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Morton Feldman, Yoko Ono, Bruce Nauman and his longtime partner Merce Cunningham, to name a few. Larson convincingly argues that they walked on a shining path blazed by Cage."
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