Review: Beautiful Music

Beautiful Music by Michael Zadoorian
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rating: 3.5 stars

This was chosen as the Community Reads book for 2019. Michael Zadoorian, a local author to the Detroit area, tells the story of a young boy growing up in the aftermath of the Detroit uprising in the late 60s. This story is about the music of the generation and how strongly music can influence our lives. This story is also about the racial tensions that persisted long after the rebellion of 1967. I very much enjoyed the parts of this book referring to specific events/places in the Detroit area. As a resident of Detroit, I could picture each place and try to imagine a different era of the city. The elements of this book that I did not enjoy all revolve around race. While I recognize that this book was largely autobiographical, as Zadoorian himself grew up and attended the same high school described in the book, I felt that it negatively portrayed this tensions. As this book was written in the perspective of this young white kid, I can understand why it was one-sided but ultimately it left a bitter taste in my mouth. I work in a predominantly white affluent suburb of Detroit, where many residents speak ill of Detroit to this day. I felt that elements of this book could have solidified their negative perceptions of the city and that they could wrongly generalize the incidents of the book which may have been historically accurate to how the city lives and breathes today. I know that racial tensions still persist today in Detroit and I am acutely aware of that daily. However, I prefer books that shine a positive light on the city and how its residents are actively working to heal this wounds and move forward together as a community of proud citizens of Detroit. That being said, I would recommend this book to those who enjoyed books such as The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce or Once In A Great City: A Detroit Story by David Maraniss.

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