Gould, Glenn (editor Tim Page) - The Glenn Gould Reader

Culled from an untold amount of essays, interviews, liner notes, this collection ranges from insightful, to controversial, to funny.
Many of the musical explorations in the first section were beyond me. Pages of staves and notes support explanations, but those are best for sight-readers.
Gould’s essays on Schoenberg are passionate and persuasive, even though I still have limited appreciation and understanding of this composer.
His position towards Beethoven is far more dismissive, which I gather is genuine and not merely provocative posturing.
Recollections of Stokowski and Rubinstein make for highly entertaining reading.
Other essays are completely off the track. Praising the combo of Petula Clark and Tony Hatch while pooh-poohing the flash-in-the-pan group, The Beatles. Thing is, for me, Pet evokes Swinging London better than any other artist.
The stray interviews with himself prove laugh out loud funny.
Gould also crafted radio plays of which I was unaware. Owing to his articles on “The Idea Of North” and “The Latecomers” I now intend to track these down and give a listen.
Altogether an engaging book and certainly not just for Gould fans or Classical enthusiasts. Gould’s predictions of recording and editing techniques are downright uncanny in their accuracy.