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Cargando... Swingpor Rupert Holmes
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Inscríbete en LibraryThing para averiguar si este libro te gustará. Actualmente no hay Conversaciones sobre este libro. Too many coincidences, although some of them get resolved in the complicated explanation involving international conspiracies and music. The idea behind the book is clever; I just wish it had been done better. I hadn't known that there was a San Francisco World's Fair right before World War II and during a time when Japan still had diplomatic relationships with the United States. Sally Rand, of fan fame, is a character in the story. Another character is a dancer who must return to Europe when the fair is over; unfortunately she is Jewish and realizes that her return is a death sentence for her. A jazz musician meets a woman young enough to be his daughter, becomes interested in her, and then learns that she might actually be his daughter. The musician is still grieving for his young daughter who died in a tragic accident. (The acknowledgments are well worth reading. The author mentions his own loss of a child; the television series that he wrote, Remember WENN, no doubt references her.) There is a cute---well, cute is not the right word---scene at a German heritage picnic with possible Nazi sympathizers in which two different groups of Jewish students at Berkeley disagree about whether or not pro-Nazi speech should be allowed or prevented; they end up throwing tomatoes at each other. Reminiscent of the dispute in which the ACLU argued in favor of Nazis marching in the predominately Jewish community of Skokie, Illinois. In other words, there are some serious issues. This was recommended to me by another librarian. The book takes place at the Claremont Hotel and in and around the Cal campus, Oakland and San Francisco. It is the story of a young musician who wins a prize in the 1939 Exhibition on Treasure Island and who needs some help in the arrangement of her music. Ray, the arranger, falls for the young composer, but his life becomes more complicated when a dead girl lands at his feet in the Court of the Moon on Treasure Island. Things get complicated from there as mystery and subplots mount and Ray tries to unravel everything. I liked the book and thought that the parts that incorporated descriptions of the Bay Area as it was were really great. It made me want to read a bit more of Bay Area history at the time. I think the author rushed through the end. sin reseñas | añadir una reseña
Two-time Edgar Award winner Rupert Holmes–author of the critically acclaimed Where the Truth Lies and creator of the Tony Award—winning musical whodunit The Mystery of Edwin Drood–now fuses gripping suspense and evocative music in an innovative novel of intrigue set in 1940, during the very heart of the Big Band era. Swing is a multimedia experience, it contains musical tracks which give clues to the mystery. Jazz saxophonist and arranger Ray Sherwood, touring with the Jack Donovan Orchestra, is haunted by personal tragedy. But when a beautiful and talented Berkeley student named Gail Prentice seeks his help in orchestrating a highly original composition called Swing Around the Sun, which is slated to premiere at the Golden Gate Exposition on the newly created Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay, Ray finds himself powerfully drawn to the beguiling coed. Within moments of first setting eyes on her, Ray also witnesses a horrifying sight: a young woman plunging to her death from the island's emblematic Tower of the Sun. As the captivated Ray learns more about Gail and her unusual family, he finds himself trapped in a tightening coil of spiraling secrets– some personally devastating, all dangerous and deadly– in which from moment to moment nothing is certain, including Gail's intentions toward him and her connection to the dead woman who made such a grisly impact upon the stunning island. As events speed toward a shocking climax, Ray must use all his physical daring and improvisational skills to unlock an ominous puzzle whose sinister implications stretch far beyond anything he could imagine. Swing is a brilliant historical thriller–with an extra twist that extends beyond its pages. Accompanying the novel is a CD of original songs and music that feature prominently in the story, within which the reader may find additional clues to the mysteries of Swing. No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — Cargando... GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999Clasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio:
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The accompanying musical CD supposedly contains "further clues" and does add a bit of dimension, but you can save your ears; it didn't significantly help the story. I liked Holmes' other mystery, Where the Truth Lies, a lot better. ( )