Books by David Grubbs

John Cage's disdain for records was legendary. It was shared by other experimental and avant-garde musicians in the 1960s. Scholar and longtime musician David Grubbs explores the present-day musical landscape, as listeners encounter experimental music through the recorded artifacts of composers and musicians who largely disavowed recordings.

In his new book-length prose poem, David Grubbs draws on decades of recording experience, taking readers into the recording studio to tell the story of an unnamed musician who struggles to complete a film soundtrack in a day-long marathon recording session.

David Grubbs explores the ephemeral nature of improvised music in Now that the audience is assembled, a prose poem that in its depiction of a fictional musical performance challenges common understandings of how and where music is composed, performed, and experienced.