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Entries tagged with 'Diaries'
Posted Apr. 18, 2007,
New Obsession: Ned Rorem
By Alex Zafiris
And who the hell is that, you ask—which is just what I said myself when I saw the book, “The Paris and New York Diaries of Ned Rorem” in a secondhand bookstore. Having lived in Paris and now in New York, I’m always fascinated by any vivid personal accounts of those who have done the same. The book cost two dollars. I then sat and read it for three hours straight, not looking up once. Rorem is an American composer whose talent and ambition lead him to Paris in 1949 (then in his late twenties), where he cavorted with people like Cocteau, Julien Green and Paul Eluard, and due to his good looks, openness about his homosexuality and opulent wisdom, was the best person to have around for parties. His diaries are so candid, shocking, brilliant, revealing, honest and absorbing that had I had a pencil, I would have underlined everything (good job I didn’t, or the pages would have been ruined). Best part: the bugger is still alive and well, composing music and living in Nantucket. Read those diaries. Here is where I was officially hooked: