Steeplejack (Paperback, Ff/Explosive Ex ed.)

1920. Two volumes in one. The memoirs of Huneker, preeminent as an in-depth music critic, whose impressionistic, but incisive criticism in all fields of art made him one of the most influential of his day. The following excerpt from Steeplejack offers a brief overview of how Huneker summarized his life and the wonderful prose style in which he wrote it: It is the story of an unquiet soul who voyaged from city to city, country to country, in search of something, he knew not what. The gold grapes of desire were never plucked, the marvelous mirage of the Seven Arts never overtaken, the antique and beautiful porches of philosophy, the solemn temples of religion never penetrated. Life has been the Barmecide's feast to me-remember the Arabian nights-no sooner did I covet a rare dish than fate whisked it out of my reach. I love paintings and sculpture. I may only look, but never own either pictures or marbles. I would fain be a pianist, a composer of music. I am neither. Nor a poet. Nor a novelist, actor, playwright. I have written many things from architecture to zoology, without grasping their inner substance. I am Jack of the Seven Arts, master of none. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.