{"product_id":"devil-sent-the-rain-music-and-writing-in-desperate-america-isbn-9780062008220","title":"Devil Sent the Rain: Music and Writing in Desperate America","description":"“WhateverTom Piazza writes is touched with magic.\" —Douglas Brinkley\u003cp\u003eAcclaimed author Tom Piazza follows hisprize-winning novel \u003cem\u003eCity of Refuge\u003c\/em\u003e and the post-Katrinaclassic \u003cem\u003eWhy New Orleans Matters\u003c\/em\u003e with a dynamic collection ofessays and journalism about American music and American character, in \u003cem\u003eDevilSent the Rain\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“TomPiazza’s writing is filled with energy, and with tender, insightful words forthe brilliant and irascible, from Jimmy Martin to Norman Mailer. Time and timeagain, Piazza identifies the unlikely, precious connections between recentevents, art, letters, and music; through his words, these byways of popularculture provide an unexpected measure of the times.” —Elvis Costello\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003eTom Piazza’s sharp intelligence, insight, and passion fuel this new collection of writings on music, literature, New Orleans, and America itself in desperate times.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor his first book since his award-winning novel \u003cem\u003eCity of Refuge\u003c\/em\u003e and his stunning and influential post-Katrina polemic \u003cem\u003eWhy New Orleans Matters\u003c\/em\u003e, Piazza selects the best of his writings on American roots music and musicians, including his Grammy-winning album notes for \u003cem\u003eMartin Scorsese Presents: The Blues\u003c\/em\u003e; his classic profile of bluegrass legend Jimmy Martin; essays on Jimmie Rodgers, Charley Patton, and Bob Dylan; and much more. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the book’s second section, Piazza turns his attention to literature, politics, and post-Katrina America in articles and essays on subjects ranging from Charlie Chan movies to the life and work of Norman Mailer, from the New Orleans housing crisis to the BP oil spill, from Jelly Roll Morton’s Library of Congress recordings to the future of books. The third and final section delivers a startlingly original meditation on fiction, sentimentality, and cynicism—a major new essay from this brilliant, unpredictable, and absolutely necessary writer. \u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“[H]ot and for real and from the heart . . .  Piazza is now truly a poet of place. Reading his book is an emotionally wrenching experience—at times hilarious, at times heartbreaking.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew Orleans Times-Picayune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Explaining this city’s inexorable, gravitational pull to outsiders who see only corruption, crime, poverty, and malarial weather is a tough order, but every page of Piazza’s deeply felt story explains a larger truth about why people live where they do: because it’s home, and heart.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“To read City of Refuge is to realize that this is what fiction is for: to take us to places the cameras can’t go.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eRichard Russo, winner of the Pulitzer Prize\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“While the characters . . . are fictional and the events are real, writer Piazza makes it feel like it is the other way around. His heroes brim with life, while the city’s destruction feels otherworldly. . . . Recreat[es] a piece of our history, through art, in a tribute to what was, and how to go on from here.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Tom Piazza’s writing pulsates with nervous electrical tension—reveals the emotions that we can’t define.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBob Dylan\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Tom Piazza’s writing is filled with energy and tender, insightful words for the brilliant and irascible, from Jimmy Martin to Norman Mailer. He identifies the unlikely, precious connections between recent events, art, letters, and music; through his words, these byways of popular culture provide an unexpected measure of the times.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eElvis Costello\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44887998333157,"sku":"NP9780062008220","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780062008220.jpg?v=1730227922","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/devil-sent-the-rain-music-and-writing-in-desperate-america-isbn-9780062008220","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}