The World Got Away: A Memoir in Bloomington, MN

One of the most innovative composers of his generation, Mikel Rouse is known for a trilogy of operas that includes
Dennis Cleveland
and a gift for superimposing pop vernaculars onto avant-garde music. This memoir channels Rouse’s high energy personality into an exuberant account of the precarity and pleasures of artistic creation. Raconteur and starving artist, witty observer and acclaimed musician, Rouse emerged from the legendary art world of 1980s New York to build a forty-year career defined by stage and musical successes, inexhaustible creativity, and a support network of famous faces, loyal allies, and high art hustlers. Rouse guides readers through a working artists’ hardscrabble life while illuminating the unromantic truth that a project’s reception
may
depend on a talented cast and crew but
can
depend on reliable air conditioning.
Candid and hilarious,
The World Got Away
is a one-of-a-kind account of a creative life fueled by talent, work, and luck.