The perfect sound : a memoir in stereo / Garrett Hongo.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hongo, Garrett Kaoru, 1951- author.

Contributor:

Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hongo, Garrett Kaoru, 1951-.

Hongo, Garrett Kaoru.

Poets, American--20th century--Biography.

Poets, American.

High-fidelity sound systems.

Japanese Americans--Biography.

Japanese Americans.

Genre:

Biographies.

Autobiographies.

Physical Description:

526 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Pantheon Books, [2022]

Summary:

"Garrett Hongo's passion for audio dates back to the Empire 98 turntable his father paired with a tube amplifier in their modest tract home in L.A. in the early 60s. But his adult quest begins in the CD-changer era, as he seeks out speakers and amps beefy enough to honor the top notes of the great opera sopranos. And in recounting this search, he describes a journey of identity where meaning, fulfillment, and even liberation were often most available to him through music and its diverse delivery systems. Hongo writes about being a Hawaiian-born, Japanese kid growing up in the shadow of the shameful internment of his ancestors during World War II; about picking up music tips from kids with darker skin than his own; about being a fish out of water with his white peers. Along the way, he nerds out with visits to eccentric collectors of decades-old audio components, drinks in wisdom from blues musicians and poetic elders, and turns his ear toward the memory-rich strains of the music that has shaped him: Hawaiian steel guitar and ukulele, barbershop and the Beatles, Bach, Verdi, and Duke Ellington. And in the decades-long process of perfecting his stereo setup, Hongo also discovers his own, now celebrated voice"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: pt. One The Perfect Sound

pt. Two I Started Out on Stereo

pt. Three Tubeworld, 1

pt. Four Tubeworld, 2

pt. Five It's My Life

pt. Six Wandering Rocks, 1

pt. Seven The First Amplifiers

pt. Eight Talking Heads and Singing Platters

pt. Nine Wandering Rocks, 2

pt. Ten Among the Bohemians.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

Other Format:

Online version: Hongo, Garrett. Perfect sound

ISBN:

9780375425066

0375425063

OCLC:

1249629185