Rookery Blues, by Jon Hassler

Writing about the other fine arts is one of the most challenging things to pull off. Whether it is music, painting, or dance, it is difficult to capture on the page the subtleties that make these arts so appealing to listeners and viewers. That being said, there are some writers who do manage to convey either the feelings that the piece puts out for the viewer/listener or the experience of actually creating music or fine art.

This week, we’ll look at some fiction and nonfiction writing about music. These authors all give the reader a strong sense of the intricacies and pleasures of music, from classical to jazz to traditional.

Jon Hassler’s Rookery Blues is set at the fictional Rookery State College, located in Minnesota. The school is an isolated place, so far north that, in the late sixties setting of the story, most of the students are only there to get draft deferments, while the instructors are misfits who can’t get jobs anywhere else. This book centers on five of those instructors who join together to play jazz in the Icejam Quintet. Hassler understands the pleasures that can be derived from playing music with others, and conveys that pleasure in clear, sharp prose. He also has a sense of how important it is for musicians to listen to one another, and of the cacophony that arises when someone stops listening.

Hassler cares about each of his eccentric characters, and as they briefly come together to play music, their lives become fuller and richer. But ultimately, the differences between the band members prove too great, and at the end the quintet has fallen apart. Hassler followed this book with a sequel, The Dean’s List.

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