Contents:
About the Author. Discussion Guide.
First-class history, and a fascinating exposition of forensic science. It reminds us that the spirit of idealism in Beethoven's music. Other accounts of the suffering of autism have been published, but few can vie with this one for thoughtfulness, scholarship, and personal accent.
Martin leaves us with a deeper understanding of language itself, a richer appreciation of its promise, and a realization that the ability to communicate is a kind of grace. Russell Martin has written such a book.
It is a book that should become a classic. But it is more than that, for in his thoughtful, relentlessly fair analysis of the character of the struggle between the conservation community and the dam-builders, Martin reveals some of the unmeasured costs that accrue when the dream of human progress is left in the hands of the engineers and the poetry of the landscape is taken from us. Watkins "Martin brings to life the mixed bag of players who, in the fight over Glen Canyon, wrote the very rulebook for the cat-and-mouse game that now incessantly pits the forces of development against the defenders of an ever-shrinking trickle of what used to be America's mightiest river.
He has done a masterful job.
Read Martin's fine new book. We have needed such a record of the war between our appetites and our dreams, and now we've got it. Beautiful Islands is a story about decent people involved in matters of consequence, a good read and a fine pleasure. He explores both with graceful precision in this finely crafted novel. Beautiful Islands is tough and strong, intelligent and moving, and always rings true.
There are remaining mysteries to be solved. We hope that the publication of this book will generate more discoveries. He lives in Los Angeles, California. Lydia Nibley is a writer and producer of books, films, and television projects. She lives in Los Angeles, California. Based on Martin's adult book Beethoven's Hair: An Extraordinary Historical Odyssey and Scientific Mystery Solved Broadway , this reworking for a young audience presents an intriguing interdisciplinary story.
Martin and Nibley trace the labyrinthine journey of a lock of Beethoven's hair encased in a glass and wooden locket from the 18th century to the present. Using a balanced mix of verifiable research and some conjecture, they explain the lock's odyssey over time and how it was ultimately acquired by two American Beethoven aficionados in The perseverance and passion of these men provided the impetus for scientific analysis to seek a physiological explanation for Beethoven's lifelong struggle with myriad physical and emotional problems. The contemporary story of the lock's travels and examination is interspersed with the history of Beethoven's musical genius.
Aspects of the Holocaust and the courageous defiance of the Nazis by the Danish resistance become a significant part of the mystery. This is a most unusual, thoroughly researched detective story written in a clearly accessible and lively tone. Black-and-white photos and reproductions appear throughout. Concluding notes offer young people advice about research and explain what narrative nonfiction is and how the authors used it in this book.
Though obviously a selection suited for research projects, it is also an incredibly readable and absorbing selection that demonstrates the multidimensional nature of true scholarship. And, although they may act as an unrealistic deterrent to a future in crime, they might also unwittingly be relating the message that discoveries can only be accomplished through the aid of expensive machines and databases. Beethoven's Hair , which was published in an adult version in and became a Washington Post Book of the Year, brings forensics back into the realm of amateurs.
The two men responsible for tracing the origins and journey of a lock of Beethoven's hair are professionals in their own fields, but their discovery is based purely on the passion of layperson. They loved Beethoven's music first and foremost.
As Ludwig van Beethoven lay dying in , a young musician named Ferdinand Hiller came to pay his respects to the great composer. World of Books USA worldofbooksusa After Fremming's death, his daughter assumed ownership of the lock, and eventually consigned it for sale at Sotheby's, where two American Beethoven enthusiasts, Ira Brilliant and Che Guevara, purchased it in The peaks he detected along the length of the hair were far too sharp to be correlated to internal lead levels. Each month we recycle over 2. Reuse this content. Its journey took turns as dramatic as being a gift to a Danish doctor for aiding hundreds of Jews escaping World War II.
The fact that one of them was real estate developer and the other a Mexican American physician named "Che" Guevara only adds to the charm. The story itself - from Beethoven's deathbed to a small town in Denmark to a collector in Arizona is a fascinating history lesson. The fact that Beethoven himself seemed to be interested, even passionate that the world recognize and unravel his mystery adds tension and brings the story to a satisfying conclusion.
Beethoven's Hair is a wonderfully grown-up addition to middle school libraries. In , while paying his last respects, composer-in-training Ferdinand Hiller snipped a lock of Ludwig van Beethoven's hair, a customary practice at the time. Mysteries dogging the memento are the focus of this absorbing and accessible book, adapted from Martin's work for adults, Beethoven's Hair. The text concurrently tells three stories: Beethoven's troubled life and times; the collectors' modern-day quest to prove the cause of his death; and the keepsake's journey through history, from Beethoven's deathbed in Austria to World War II Resistance Denmark to auction at Sotheby's.
Along the way, many questions are raised. Did Beethoven die of natural causes?
Were Hiller's descendents persecuted by the Nazis? Or were they Nazi sympathizers? And most important, what connections can readers themselves make among events from the past? The answers aren't clear-cut, and Martin and Nibley are careful not to present speculation as fact, instead teasing out different conclusions that could be drawn based on that which is known.
The text is effectively echoed by the many well-captioned black-and-white art reproductions, showing Beethoven's progression from bright young performer to brooding composer to desperately ill man.