(1888PressRelease)
February 20, 2007 - Montreal, Canada (1888pressrelease) 2,20,2007 - Described as 'Infectiously discordant' by one New York agent - 'Arcania' the new trilogy by Brother Xanadu is now released by Worldgig - available at Amazon.com. These three books deal with the joy and the madness of the lives of two jazz musicians as their careers veer widely through a bizarre series of events - from success to homelessness and back again.
Alex Gordon, the author, chose to use the pen-name 'Brother Xanadu' since he is also a musician and when playing jazz gigs he discovered that his new status as author was losing him music bookings, and thus a cover was needed. The phenomenon of self-publishing also helped his focus considerably. "Rather than write pretty lies for money, I was able to tell them the real deal," he claims. And the Arcania trilogy certainly holds nothing back. Everything you always imagined that musicians were up to - behind the scenes - is here!
It has been said "The life-style of the artist is often more interesting than his work." With this in mind Brother Xanadu has created a dry Brit-humour classic in this rollickingly cynical portrait of musicians and their circus-like excesses in times long-gone.
Arcania is - 'A hilarious, disjointed, yet compelling account of a lone musician in 70's London, fighting his way through the circus of 'sex, drugs and rock n roll' which characterised this era. There's lots of satisfyingly unique dialogue including slang from the very maw of Brixton, heart of the rebel subculture. Squatters, eccentrics, artists, junkies and outcasts of every possible type. Outsiders all. Scandals, literary erotica and an exclusive behind-the-scenes insight into the British music scene at its rollicking, roaring peak. This is also a book about tortured, fragmenting relationships and about the mysterious connections between money, power, drugs and the ultimate dream - success in pop music. And then an astonishing, unexpectedly spiritual finale'.
The trilogy consists of 'Arcania' 0-9731313-1-4 $11.99,
'Jazz and the abstract truth' 0-9731313-0-6 $11.99 and
'Take my hand and lead me to the street' 978-0-9731313-3-8 $11.99,
all available from Amazon.com.
"A great pianist, a visionary musical imagination and now a compelling and hilarious writer to boot! You cannot afford to miss out on Brother Xanadu's new offering" - Paul Gilroy (holder of Anthony Giddens Professorship in Social Theory - London School of Economics.)
During the summer 'Arcania' has been reviewed by Stuart Nulman on Montreal radio CJAD, Stanley Asher on radio Centre-ville and Peter Anthony Holder on radio CJAD. It has been exhibited at NCBA, Oakland and at the Frankfurt International Book fair.
