Uncommon Measure: A Journey Through Music, Performance, and the Science of Time by Hodges, Natalie

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD LONGLIST
NPR "BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR" SELECTION
NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE

A virtuosic debut from a gifted violinist searching for a new mode of artistic becoming

How does time shape consciousness and consciousness, time? Do we live in time, or does time live in us? And how does music, with its patterns of rhythm and harmony, inform our experience of time?

Uncommon Measure explores these questions from the perspective of a young Korean American who dedicated herself to perfecting her art until performance anxiety forced her to give up the dream of becoming a concert solo violinist. Anchoring her story in illuminating research in neuroscience and quantum physics, Hodges traces her own passage through difficult family dynamics, prejudice, and enormous personal expectations to come to terms with the meaning of a life reimagined-one still shaped by classical music but moving toward the freedom of improvisation.

Author: Natalie Hodges
Publisher: Bellevue Literary Press
Published: 03/22/2022
Pages: 224
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.55lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.10w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9781942658979
Award: National Book Awards - Nominee

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 11/29/2021
Library Journal 12/01/2021 pg. 84
Kirkus Reviews 12/15/2021
Booklist 02/15/2022 pg. 11
Shelf Awareness 03/22/2022

About the Author

Natalie Hodges has performed as a classical violinist throughout Colorado and in New York, Boston, Paris, and the Italian Piedmont, as well as at the Aspen Music Festival and the Stowe Tango Music Festival. She is a graduate of Harvard University, where she studied English and music, and currently lives in Boulder, Colorado. Uncommon Measure is her first book.