What Is It All but Luminous
Notes from an Underground Man
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Narrated by:
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Art Garfunkel
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By:
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Art Garfunkel
About this listen
From the golden-haired, curly-headed half of Simon & Garfunkel - a memoir (of sorts): artful, moving, lyrical; the making of a musician; the evolution of a man, a portrait of a lifelong friendship and collaboration that became one of the most successful singing duos of their time.
Art Garfunkel writes about his life before, during, and after Simon & Garfunkel...about their folk-rock music in the roiling age that embraced and was defined by their path-breaking sound. He writes about growing up in the 1940s and '50s (son of a traveling salesman), a middle class Jewish boy, living in a red brick semi-attached house in Kew Gardens, Queens, a kid who was different - from the age of five feeling his vocal cords "vibrating with the love of sound"...meeting Paul Simon in school, the funny guy who made Art laugh; their going on to junior high school together, of being 12 at the birth of rock 'n' roll, both of them "captured" by it; going to a recording studio in Manhattan to make a demo of their song "Hey Schoolgirl" (for $7!) and the actual record (with Paul's father on bass) going to number 40 on the national charts, selling 150,000 copies....
He writes about their becoming Simon & Garfunkel, taking the world by storm, ruling the pop charts from the time he was 16, about not being a natural performer but more a thinker...touring; sex-for-thrills on the road, reading or walking to calm down (walking across two continents - the USA and Europe). He writes of being an actor working with directors Nicolas Roeg (Bad Timing) and Mike Nichols ("the greatest of them all")...getting his master's in mathematics at Columbia; choosing music over a PhD; his slow, unfolding split with Paul and its aftermath; learning to perform on his own, giving a thousand concerts worldwide, his voice going south (a stiffening of one vocal cord) and working to get it back...about being a husband, a father, and much more.
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Critic reviews
"Garfunkel reveals flashes of real insight about the transcendent power of music and the inner workings of a singer's life." (Publishers Weekly)
"Garfunkel's writing is a lot like lyrics, filled with rhymes and meant for the ear. His soft voice gives his words a gentle rhythm.... Garfunkel's stream-of-consciousness style is enjoyable from the beginning and becomes even better as it goes along and listeners get into the rhythm of his life." (AudioFile)
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Story
Father Greg Lockwood is unlike any Catholic priest you have ever met - a man who lounges in boxer shorts, who loves action movies, and whose constant jamming on the guitar reverberates "like a whole band dying in a plane crash in 1972". His daughter is an irreverent poet who long ago left the church's country. When an unexpected crisis leads her and her husband to move back into her parents' rectory, their two worlds collide.
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Terrible narration--read, don't listen
- By Penelope on 08-06-17
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She Walks in Beauty
- A Woman's Journey Through Poems
- By: Adrienne Rich, Pablo Neruda, Elizabeth Bishop, and others
- Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd, Campbell Scott, Jane Alexander, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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She Walks in Beauty draws on poetry’s eloquent wisdom to ponder the many joys and challenges of being a woman. Caroline Kennedy has divided the collection into sections that signify to her the most notable milestones, passages, and universal experiences in a woman’s life, and she begins each of these sections with an introduction in which she explores and celebrates the most important elements of life’s journey.
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Still struggling with poetry
- By Beatrice on 01-30-12
By: Adrienne Rich, and others
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Poemcrazy
- Freeing Your Life with Words
- By: Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge
- Narrated by: Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Following the success of several recent inspirational and practical books for would-be writers, Poemcrazy is a perfect guide for everyone who ever wanted to write a poem but was afraid to try. Writing workshop leader Susan Wooldridge shows how to think, use one's senses, and practice exercises that will make poems more likely to happen.
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Her Words, Her Voice...
- By S. Schultz on 11-21-14
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Traveling Music
- The Soundtrack to My Life and Times
- By: Neil Peart
- Narrated by: Brian Sutherland
- Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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The music of Frank Sinatra, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, and many other artists provides the score to the reflections of a musician on the road in this memoir of Neil Peart's travels from Los Angeles to Big Bend National Park. The emotional associations and stories behind each album Peart plays guide his recollections of his childhood on Lake Ontario, the first bands that he performed with, and his travels with the band Rush. The evocative and resonant writing vividly captures the meanderings of a musical mind.
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If your a music lover you'll dig this one
- By Jason Lessenger on 09-12-15
By: Neil Peart
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Come to the Edge
- A Memoir
- By: Christina Haag
- Narrated by: Christina Haag
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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When Christina Haag was growing up on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, John F. Kennedy, Jr., was just one of the boys in her circle of prep-school friends. A decade later, after they had both graduated from Brown University and were living in New York City, Christina and John were cast in an off-Broadway play together. It was then that John confessed his long-standing crush on her, and they embarked on a five-year love affair.
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Thoroughly enjoyed Come to the Edge
- By CapeCodLady on 11-15-19
By: Christina Haag
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New American Best Friend
- By: Olivia Gatwood
- Narrated by: Olivia Gatwood
- Length: 54 mins
- Unabridged
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One of the most recognizable young poets in America, Olivia Gatwood dazzles with her tribute to contemporary American womanhood in her debut book, New American Best Friend. Gatwood's poems deftly deconstruct traditional stereotypes. The focus shifts from childhood to adulthood, gender to sexuality, violence to joy. And always and inexorably, the book moves toward celebration, culminating in a series of odes: odes to the body, to tough women, to embracing your own journey in all its failures and triumphs.
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Amazing poetry, but the music
- By Keaira on 07-29-19
By: Olivia Gatwood
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The One-in-a-Million Boy
- By: Monica Wood
- Narrated by: Chris Ciulla
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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For years, guitarist Quinn Porter has been on the road, chasing gig after gig, largely absent to his twice-ex-wife Belle and their odd, Guinness records-obsessed son. When the boy dies suddenly, Quinn seeks forgiveness for his paternal shortcomings by completing the requirements for one of his son's unfinished Boy Scout badges. For seven Saturdays Quinn does yard work for Ona Vitkus, the spry 104-year-old Lithuanian immigrant the boy had visited weekly.
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Loved it
- By Justin on 10-20-16
By: Monica Wood
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Whirligig
- By: Paul Fleischman
- Narrated by: Robert Field, Lily Christian, Alex Hauk, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Newbery Medal winner Paul Fleischman writes a profoundly moving story of connectedness and the journey of a young soul to self-discovery. Told through the voices of five characters and narrated by age-appropriate actors, Whirligig compels the listener with its lesson on how our actions can impact the lives of others - even years later. A stunningly authentic listening experience.
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Fabulous
- By Tim on 03-21-17
By: Paul Fleischman
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We Want Our Bodies Back
- Poems
- By: Jessica Care Moore
- Narrated by: Jessica Care Moore
- Length: 2 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Over the past two decades, Jessica Care moore has become a cultural force as a poet, performer, publisher, activist, and critic. Reflecting her transcendent electric voice, this searing poetry collection is filled with moving, original stanzas that speak to both Black women’s creative and intellectual power, and express the pain, sadness, and anger of those who suffer constant scrutiny because of their gender and race.
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Just beautiful.
- By @oil_house_ (IG) on 02-25-21
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Everywhere I Look
- By: Helen Garner
- Narrated by: Helen Garner
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Spanning 15 years of work, Everywhere I Look is an audiobook full of unexpected moments, sudden shafts of light, piercing intuition, flashes of anger and incidental humour. It takes us from backstage at the ballet to the trial of a woman for the murder of her newborn baby. It moves effortlessly from the significance of moving house to the pleasure of rereading Pride and Prejudice.
By: Helen Garner
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Liner Notes
- On Parents & Children, Exes & Excess, Death & Decay, & a Few of My Other Favorite Things
- By: Loudon Wainwright III
- Narrated by: Loudon Wainwright III
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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A memoir by the influential Grammy Award-winning singer and actor - son of journalist Loudon Wainwright, former husband of Kate McGarrigle and Suzzy Roche, and father of Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, Lucy Wainwright Roche, and Lexie Kelly Wainwright - a captivating meditation on relationships and creativity from the patriarch of one of America's great musical families. With a career spanning more than four decades, Loudon Wainwright III has established himself as one of the most enduring singer-songwriters who emerged from the late '60s.
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Best ever book for listening
- By Jeff Bernhardt on 10-29-17
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Famous Father Girl
- A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein
- By: Jamie Bernstein
- Narrated by: Jamie Bernstein
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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The oldest daughter of revered composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein offers a rare look at her father on the centennial of his birth in a deeply intimate and broadly evocative memoir. The composer of On the Town and West Side Story, chief conductor of the New York Philharmonic, television star, humanitarian, friend of the powerful and influential, and the life of every party, Leonard Bernstein was an enormous celebrity during one of the headiest periods of American cultural life, as well as the most protean musician in 20th-century America.
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Can't say enough good things
- By barbara on 10-10-18
By: Jamie Bernstein
What listeners say about What Is It All but Luminous
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Mark
- 08-27-21
Quirky but Endearing
I imagine that the listeners of this book are virtually all Simon and Garfunkel fans. I found the book interesting in large part because of the insight it offered into the duo’s love/hate rivalry. Regardless, there was a whimsical sweetness and quirky poignancy to the book. At times it was tedious but overall it was a nice journey. I enjoyed it.
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- RichBoston
- 10-19-17
Accept This Book For What It Is...and Isn't
I'm reviewing the Audible version. I knew what I was in for when I saw him in concert in Plymouth, MA in June 2017. His voice, once so perfect, was now a 'work in progress' as Art said. But given his age and accepting of the limitations of time the concert was fine. But...in between songs he would quote some of the rambling passages from this book. 'So there I was, drinking my freshly squeezed..lah, de, dah, de dah.' on and on nonsense. It was uncomfortable and he came across so full of himself it was insufferable at times. But...his voice brings back so many memories, as flawed as it may be in spots by age, use and health.
So why buy the Audible book? I wanted to hear 'the voice' in the cohesiveness of the book with an open mind instead of snippets and to see if his poetic style might grow on me...and it did...to a degree. Sure, would have preferred an autobiography. Nonetheless, like I said, I knew what I was buying unlike some others and it has grown on me a bit since I was coming at it a bit differently. But I warn you, accept this as a poetic wondering of thoughts that don't necessarily tie together and from someone that has a high opinion of himself. This is not for everyone. As a long time fan I was aware of Art's personality and when you like someone you accept them as they are. No one likes everything about everyone.
I love Art and the songs I grew up on take me back to a special time that is long gone. Art made amazing songs more so with his talent. To try and figure how he sees the world and his life within it through this book is a challenge but I still mostly liked it. His biggest fault would seem to be lack of humility. But the great ones often suffer from a big ego without which they wouldn't have had the confidence to become the beloved talent that they rose to. Sooooo...I liked the book. Sometimes a lot. It has grown on me. But I started off as a big fan for whom Art's voice brings back magical memories and I was aware of his ego. In print or with another reader I know I would not have enjoyed it as much.
Please do not buy this book expecting an autobiography and then trash it with a bad review. It isn't an autobiography - understand what it is going in. I would recommend the Audible version which makes it easier to like as it comes across much better than on paper. Listen to a sample online.
I give bonus points for Art being himself and putting out the book that HE wanted. Don't be offended by the bad reviews Art. Take it as as a complement. They love you and wanted an autobiography. They needed a better understanding of what this book was about first.The autobiography will come later.
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20 people found this helpful
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- JO
- 09-03-20
Disappointed
As a fan of S & G, and of Art Garfunkel's early solo work, I really wanted to like this book. I wanted to be inspired. I wanted it to be Luminous. I am simply disappointed.
.....All of the various pieces and notes he collected over the years may actually be interesting, but it just didn't happen here. Most everything came across as shallow. I kept waiting for even a little depth; It never came. Halfway through, I thought to give up on the notion of depth and just wanted to be entertained. That didn't happen either. Garfunkel just comes across as pretentious and arrogant; presenting the reading of this book as a performance rather than sharing bits and pieces of his life. Other than the pieces about his wife and children, who he clearly adores, it's impossible to tell whether even he found the rest of it interesting.
.....I've watch the video of the 1981 S & G Concert In Central Park a number of times. The thing I'm most struck by is the different ways each one physically expresses the music. For Paul Simon, the music seems to come from/through his whole body. For Art Garfunkel, the music seems to come only from his beautiful voice; shallow and not fully engage.
.....That's how this book felt - shallow and not fullly engaged.
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- Barry
- 03-15-21
SUCKS!!! The only audio book I should return!
Boring, boring, uninteresting. I did not make it half way thru before calling it quits.
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- C. butterworth
- 12-08-19
self indulgent
In love with his own prose, spinning word imagery and half thoughts in a distracting way. Although, to be fair, I stopped after 30 minutes.
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- vmartires
- 10-24-18
How lucky are we...
...that this gifted writer also narrated his great work of musings and streams of consciousness. If you are searching for a chronological account of the S&G historical timeline, from the man whose voice and musical direction made S&G the success that it was, keep searching...this isn’t it. However, if you can recognize that instead we have been presented a gift of a more personal, insightful perspective of this musical genius’ most intimate thoughts on his whole experience as an artist, and even more special, as a human being, then consider that you have stumbled upon a fortune.
His prose is absolutely beautiful (though I might expect no less from someone who is ridiculously well-read). I might even wonder what additional powerful works may have been born under the S&G moniker, had he felt empowered to contribute as a lyricist/poet as well.
I probably was born 40 years too late to really be a part of his generation, but S&G’s body of work, and Art’s contribution to it, is so timeless, (and unfortunately, the state of our country continues to disillusion us as much as it did in the 60s) that I’m grateful to be able to find meaning in it yet.
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1 person found this helpful
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- jorge f.
- 01-26-18
Pompous
Not sure why Paul Simon stop working with Garfunkel But it could’ve been from boredom can anybody be more pompous more verbal more vague more ridiculous
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2 people found this helpful
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- Marjorie Rosenkrantz
- 11-23-17
A book of poetry
Once I understood this was not really an autobiography I thoroughly enjoyed the poetry and eccentricity of Art Garfunkel.
I found many of insights profound and a book worth listening to again.
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- Nori Muster
- 12-14-17
Poetry from a friend
Any additional comments?
When I heard Art Garfunkel had a new book, and when I found out it was available as an audio book read by the author, I saved it. As soon as it came out, I listened to it twice. It was surreal and deep, and an opportunity to get into the mind of one of the iconic musicians of our generation. The book is a masterpiece, extremely personal and revealing of Garfunkel's soul. If you're not a fan already, you might have trouble getting into it. But if you're open to the mind of a poet - you might enjoy meeting him through this book.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Dean
- 03-26-21
OMG! NO! Talk about Worthless
I just couldn’t get through it. I can’t believe the publisher put this steaming pile of useless words out on paper or audio.
There must have been a contractual obligation.
This list of books he read?! Really... talk about worthless page filler...
Shame, Shame, Shame.
The publisher who authorized this should be walked through the streets naked as someone rings a bell behind them.
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