Extraordinary Measures

Reviews / Votes

A meticulously researched book that connects disability narratives with composing, theorizing, performing, and hearing music. * Journal of the American Musicological Society * A work of intellectual virtuosity, Extraordinary Measures will change the way we think about music and the way we think about disability. Joseph Straus shows us how disability appears not only in musical performance and narrative, but most fully in musical form. * Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Emory University * A leading figure in the field of music theory, Straus has applied his considerable talents not only as a writer and critical thinker, but also as a humanist in the most profound sense, to virtually single-handedly create the field of disability studies in music scholarship. This book is both engaging and moving, as Straus expertly draws current literature in disability studies into a new, musical context and examines our deepest beliefs and prejudices about music, musicians, and the worlds they create and inhabit. * Dave Headlam, Eastman School of Music * A veritable music-theoretical page-turner, this book surveys a wondrously defamiliarized landscape of music reception, theory, and performance through the transformative lens of disability. It is nothing short of a major landmark, destined to exert a profound impact on the field. * Floyd Grave, Rutgers University * Breaks new ground...A powerful and moving piece of social activism in the music arena...As Extraordinary Measures persuasively shows, it's time we consider disabled musicians and listeners not as defective, but merely as different. * Chamber Music *