Showing results by author "Thomas Larson" in All Categories

An exploration of the cultural impact of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, the Piet of music, and its enigmatic composer. In the first book ever to explore Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings, music and literary critic Thomas Larson tells the story of the prodigal composer, his seminal masterpiece and its fascinating history as America's secular hymn for grieving our dead.

A reflection on how to listen and pay attention amid the constant noise that saturates our public and private lives. From podcasts sounding through earbuds to talk shows blaring from televisions, from the continuous stream of social media on our phones to doctors’ waiting rooms with pumped-in...

In his book-length essay Spirituality and the Writer, Larson surveys the literary insights of authors old and new who have shaped religious autobiography and spiritual memoir - from Augustine to Thomas Merton, from Peter Matthiessen to Cheryl Strayed. He holds them to an exacting standard: They must render transcendent experience in the writing itself.