Knowing When to Stop: A Memoir

Most people who would be interested in reading "Knowing When to Stop" are probably familiar with Rorem's diaries. His memoir ends the year he first started the journals contained in "The Paris Diaries," and "Knowing When to Stop" not only fills the autobiographical, pre-diary gap, but also stands as one of most extraordinary self-portraits ever written. Rorem recounts, in his graceful, inimitable style, his childhood, musical training, early sex life (of course), his first years in Europe and, most absorbingly, his friendships with some of the most famous artists, both musical and otherwise, of the century. Bernstein, Cage, Katchen, Thomson, Copland, Boulez, Capote, Paul and Jane Bowles--Rorem describes them with sympathy and insight. Rorem's own mortality hangs shadowlike over every page of "Knowing," and his assessments of his work and life are penetrating and brutally honest. All in all, one of the best books I've ever read and a poignant, profound meditation of life and art.

Astonishing autobiography that also serves as a cultural history of the post-war literary and musical worlds of New York and Paris.