The Composer Is Dead Book

Oh, WOW! I LOVED this book!!!! I love the entire creation--the words, the illustrations, the music. It is AMAZING! First of all, it is so very, very FUNNY! Humor is always so subjective but this just absolutely clicked with me. OMG! Witty stuff here. I love the personalities that Snicket assigns to the various instruments. For example, the "The violin section is divided inot the First Violins, who have the trickier parts to play, and the Second Violins, who are more fun at parties." The inspector asks them what they were doing the night of the murder. "We were performing a waltz," said the Violins. "We played graceful melodies so the ladies and gentlemen could spin around and around and aroud until they felt dizzy and somewhat nauseous. This kept us busy all night." The inspector suspects they murdered the composer for making them play waltzes all night. "Don't be ridiculous," say the Violins, "Violins are the stars of any orchestra. If we killed the composer, we would have to find work at square dances or in romantic restaurants." Oh, gosh, good stuff here! ;-> I don't want to give any more away! The accompanying CD, read by Snicket with music by Nathaniel Stookey performed by the San Francisco Symphony is also outstanding. I admit that I tried to read/listen simultaneously but the audio version takes a LONG time to get through due to all the (excellent) music so I stopped the audio half way through. Personally, I felt a bit of the humor in the quick repartee (as I read it) between the inspector and the various instruments was lost with the sometimes drawn-out conversations with musical interludes on the audio version. Opinions may vary, but I'd recommend reading the book first and then listening to the CD as a bonus treat, maybe take that time to look at the illustrations again or just appreciate Snicket's fun delivery style.

While this is a delight in and of itself, it could also be hoped that it would inspire kids to want to go to the symphony or listen to more classical music.

I really do think this is a "children's book" that most adults with a sense of humor and/or appreciation for the symphony will enjoy.

Thank you so much, Angie, for the recommendation!!!