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Oh My God: Messiaen in the Ear of the Unbeliever is based on Paul Festa's award-winning and critically acclaimed film Apparition of the Eternal Church.
The book and the movie capture the explosive responses of 31 mostly nonreligious artists to the apocalyptic music of the Christian visionary Olivier Messiaen. The cast, hailed by The Mobile Press-Register as "among the most extraordinary I have ever seen or heard in a documentary," includes author Harold Bloom, filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell, Scissor Sisters singer Ana Matronic, and Kiki & Herb star Justin Bond.
The book can be thought of as the graphic novel version of the movie, with the transcript placed beside images from the film. Running beneath these words and pictures is the director's commentary, with restored scenes and stories about the cast, the director, and the composer.
Oh My God: Messiaen in the Ear of the Unbeliever will be released Wednesday, February 27th 2008, 7:30 p.m., at St. Bartholomew's Church at Park Avenue and E. 51st Street in New York, in conjunction with a screening of Apparition of the Eternal Church with live organ accompaniment by Bill Trafka, and the New York City premiere performance of Messiaen's Fantaisie for violin and piano, with Paul Festa on violin and Melvin Chen on piano.
The first printing is a limited Messiaen centenary edition of 83 signed and numbered copies, one for each year of Messiaen's life. The cost is $40 plus shipping, if any.
A separate release will take place in San Francisco, tentatively scheduled for March 8th. Please email the author for details.
The book is designed to qualify for online distribution through Amazon and other Internet retailers. It will be a couple of months before that's a reality. In the meantime, you can order your copy through the Lulu Marketplace, but there it costs $52.50 and is not a limited-edition signed copy. To reserve one of these, please send a check for $40 plus $5 for shipping to the following address, and include your mailing address:
Paul Festa
Bar Nothing Books
3482 22nd Street, Apt. B
San Francisco, CA 94110
www.paulfesta.com
www.apparitionfilm.com
www.apparitionfilm.com/book.htm