Strange Mr. Satie: Composer of the Absurd
“Anderson makes a music of his own with words.” — Washington Post
Illustrated by Petra Mathers
Candlewick Press (2003)
ISBN: 9780763687755
Ages: 6-9
Awards
U.S. News and World Report “Top 10 Children’ Books” ● Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year ● Horn Book Fanfare ● Junior Library Guild Selection
Walking through the streets of Paris a hundred years ago, Erik Satie could not have looked more normal in his black bowler hat and tie. But Mr. Satie was dreaming of music no one had heard before – music like ancient chants and modern circus tunes rolled into one. A friend of poets, puppeteers, magicians, great painters like Picasso, and the Surrealists, Satie was at the center of a world where sense was nonsense, and the imagination ruled supreme.
Award-winning author M. T. Anderson recounts the story of the irreverent French composer in a biography that is witty, accessible, and endlessly surprising, while Petra Mathers’s magical illustrations capture all the vibrancy that was Erik Satie’s topsy-turvy world.
Reviews
“Anderson makes a music of his own with words.” — Washington Post
★ “An irresistible invitation to discover a relatively little known, but profoundly influential 20th century artist.” — Kirkus, starred review
★ “Like Satie’s repetitive, slowly advancing musical passages, Anderson’s words flow naturally and hypnotize the reader with oceanic rhythms. … Both author and illustrator seem to have channeled Satie’s spirit of risk-taking in their verbal and visual depictions of the composer’s artistry.” — Horn Book, starred review
★ “The details of Satie’s strange life will puzzle and intrigue youngsters. The interpretations of Satie’s absurdist musical pieces and guidelines are faithfully literal yet spiritedly surreal.” — The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, starred review
“A splendid alliance of topic, text, and illustration produces a hauntingly compelling biography.” — School Library Journal
“Deliciously offbeat.” — Booklist
“Strange indeed, but bewitching.” — Bookpage