American Band: Music, Dreams, and Coming of Age in the Heartland
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.44 (809 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1592404006 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 320 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-10-05 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Kristen Laine is an award winning journalist and a regular commentator for Vermont Public Radio.
This book appeals to marching band kids as it is quite relatable! This is one of the best books that I've ever read. As a competitor of the Concord Marching Minuteman, I know first hand that they put their heart and souls into what they do. This book is so good that both of my band directors have read it! This book really shows to anyone (marcher or non marcher) that band is to be taken seriously. We've had football players say that marching band is harder than even their varsity practices. We deserve some credit too! This is a beautiful piece of literature and really does shed light into the unseen world that is high school marching band. Flawless job, Miss Laine! Everything is totally relatabl. Engaging story-telling journalism at its best "Coming of Age in the Heartland" is a precise and honest description of the interwoven stories told throughout this book. From the perspective of someone who has never picked up a musical instrument, I was surprised by how Marching Band could be such an intriguing backdrop for a book. I deeply enjoyed the clear depictions of students that this piece followed--particularly Grant's story, and I'm grateful to him and the author for sharing such a personal struggle of faith and grief in this context.. So Bando, Even the Milk Turns Bando This book truly captures the incredibly serious, irony-free world of competitive marching band. There really are no superlatives too strong for a sport(?) where the audience is expected to throw babies (figurative babies, of course), if they are particularly moved by the field show. It takes either total immersion, or saint-like objectivity to write about band without making fun of it, and this book succeeds at that.The author also met the challenge of showing the diverse motivations/attitudes of the individual bandos, even when they contrasted with the brilliant esprit de corps of the group. It's true she spent a lot of time on j
From Publishers Weekly In 2004, first-time author Laine immersed herself in Elkhart, Indiana's Concord High School Marching Minutemen, a 240-plus ensemble preparing to defend its state title, and emerges with a detailed and intimate account that delves deep into the rarified world of competitive high school marching and the students, parents and teachers devoted to it. Max Jones is the band's hard-nosed director, in his final season at Concord, and just beginning to fall out of touch with his young charges; students, meanwhile, juggle social and spiritual concerns with their all-consuming commitment to the Minutemen (practicing more hours than even the football players). Her descriptions of field performances-from the earliest planning stages to
In the place where this tradition may have originated, in the city that became the band instrument capital of the world, band is a religion. Nowhere is band more serious than at Concord High School in Elkhart, Indiana, where the entire town is involved with the success of its defending state champion band, the Marching Minutemen. Every fall, marching bands take to the field in a uniquely American ritual. In this intimate chronicle, the band marches through a season that starts in hope and promise, progresses through uncertainty and disappointment, and ends, ultimately, in redemption.. But it’s not the only religion—as legendary director Max Jones discovers when conflicting notions of faith and purpose collide during his final year as director. For millions of kids, band is a rite of passage—a first foray into leadership and adult responsibility, and a chance to learn what it means to be a part of a community. In the spirit of Friday Night Lights comes the stirring story of a marching band from small-town middle America