What About Mozart? What About Murder?

What About Mozart? What About Murder?

Author: Howard S. Becker

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2014-08-22

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 022616652X

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In 1963, Howard S. Becker gave a lecture about deviance, challenging the then-conventional definition that deviance was inherently criminal and abnormal and arguing that instead, deviance was better understood as a function of labeling. At the end of his lecture, a distinguished colleague standing at the back of the room, puffing a cigar, looked at Becker quizzically and asked, “What about murder? Isn’t that really deviant?” It sounded like Becker had been backed into a corner. Becker, however, wasn’t defeated! Reasonable people, he countered, differ over whether certain killings are murder or justified homicide, and these differences vary depending on what kinds of people did the killing. In What About Mozart? What About Murder?, Becker uses this example, along with many others, to demonstrate the different ways to study society, one that uses carefully investigated, specific cases and another that relies on speculation and on what he calls “killer questions,” aimed at taking down an opponent by citing invented cases. Becker draws on a lifetime of sociological research and wisdom to show, in helpful detail, how to use a variety of kinds of cases to build sociological knowledge. With his trademark conversational flair and informal, personal perspective Becker provides a guide that researchers can use to produce general sociological knowledge through case studies. He champions research that has enough data to go beyond guesswork and urges researchers to avoid what he calls “skeleton cases,” which use fictional stories that pose as scientific evidence. Using his long career as a backdrop, Becker delivers a winning book that will surely change the way scholars in many fields approach their research.


Book Synopsis What About Mozart? What About Murder? by : Howard S. Becker

Download or read book What About Mozart? What About Murder? written by Howard S. Becker and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2014-08-22 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1963, Howard S. Becker gave a lecture about deviance, challenging the then-conventional definition that deviance was inherently criminal and abnormal and arguing that instead, deviance was better understood as a function of labeling. At the end of his lecture, a distinguished colleague standing at the back of the room, puffing a cigar, looked at Becker quizzically and asked, “What about murder? Isn’t that really deviant?” It sounded like Becker had been backed into a corner. Becker, however, wasn’t defeated! Reasonable people, he countered, differ over whether certain killings are murder or justified homicide, and these differences vary depending on what kinds of people did the killing. In What About Mozart? What About Murder?, Becker uses this example, along with many others, to demonstrate the different ways to study society, one that uses carefully investigated, specific cases and another that relies on speculation and on what he calls “killer questions,” aimed at taking down an opponent by citing invented cases. Becker draws on a lifetime of sociological research and wisdom to show, in helpful detail, how to use a variety of kinds of cases to build sociological knowledge. With his trademark conversational flair and informal, personal perspective Becker provides a guide that researchers can use to produce general sociological knowledge through case studies. He champions research that has enough data to go beyond guesswork and urges researchers to avoid what he calls “skeleton cases,” which use fictional stories that pose as scientific evidence. Using his long career as a backdrop, Becker delivers a winning book that will surely change the way scholars in many fields approach their research.

The Mozart Conspiracy

The Mozart Conspiracy

Author: Scott Mariani

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2011-12-27

Total Pages: 436

ISBN-13: 1439193371

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Former British Special Air Service officer Ben Hope is running for his life. Enlisted by Leigh Llewellyn--the beautiful, world-famous opera star and Ben's first love--to investigate her brother's mysterious death, Ben finds himself caught up in a puzzle dating back to the 1700s.


Book Synopsis The Mozart Conspiracy by : Scott Mariani

Download or read book The Mozart Conspiracy written by Scott Mariani and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2011-12-27 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Former British Special Air Service officer Ben Hope is running for his life. Enlisted by Leigh Llewellyn--the beautiful, world-famous opera star and Ben's first love--to investigate her brother's mysterious death, Ben finds himself caught up in a puzzle dating back to the 1700s.

Echoes of a Distant Crime

Echoes of a Distant Crime

Author: H. S. Brockmeyer

Publisher:

Published: 2009-10

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780595477135

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New Evidence of Murder * How Mozart was Murdered * Who Did It? * Where Mozart is Buried * Why Mozart was Murdered When H. S. Brockmeyer first became interested in Mozart and his tragic early death, she wasn't thinking of murder or any kind of foul play. Her curiosity was piqued, however, by all the unanswered questions that were overlooked by the scholars. As her interest grew and she began doing her own research, she was shocked to find more and more holes in the official story. She was hooked-and years later the result is this book. The damning facts about Mozart's tragic death are revealed in Echoes of a Distant Crime. This evidence has been available since his death in 1791; it has just been hidden in darkness-until now. Hint: Mozart was not killed by poison. Hint: Salieri didn't kill Mozart. Hint: Mozart is not buried in a pauper's grave-or any kind of grave-in the St. Marx cemetery in Vienna. An 18th century document holds an important clue to Mozart's life - and death - and is revealed in stunning detail in Brockmeyer's book, weaving a controversial, thoroughly researched tale of the composer's last two fatal years.


Book Synopsis Echoes of a Distant Crime by : H. S. Brockmeyer

Download or read book Echoes of a Distant Crime written by H. S. Brockmeyer and published by . This book was released on 2009-10 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New Evidence of Murder * How Mozart was Murdered * Who Did It? * Where Mozart is Buried * Why Mozart was Murdered When H. S. Brockmeyer first became interested in Mozart and his tragic early death, she wasn't thinking of murder or any kind of foul play. Her curiosity was piqued, however, by all the unanswered questions that were overlooked by the scholars. As her interest grew and she began doing her own research, she was shocked to find more and more holes in the official story. She was hooked-and years later the result is this book. The damning facts about Mozart's tragic death are revealed in Echoes of a Distant Crime. This evidence has been available since his death in 1791; it has just been hidden in darkness-until now. Hint: Mozart was not killed by poison. Hint: Salieri didn't kill Mozart. Hint: Mozart is not buried in a pauper's grave-or any kind of grave-in the St. Marx cemetery in Vienna. An 18th century document holds an important clue to Mozart's life - and death - and is revealed in stunning detail in Brockmeyer's book, weaving a controversial, thoroughly researched tale of the composer's last two fatal years.

The Murder of Figaro

The Murder of Figaro

Author: Susan Larson

Publisher:

Published: 2019-07-08

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 9781939113337

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If you attended the opera in the 18th century, you could buy a program booklet with side-by-side translations of the text and a list of the participants. Think of "The Murder of Figaro" as one such souvenir booklet. Just add music--and imagination: It's 1786, and "The Marriage of Figaro," a new comic opera by Amadé Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte, has just begun its first onstage rehearsal when a corpse is discovered in the wings: it's the universally-loathed Imperial Censor. Despite a verdict of suicide, Da Ponte is arrested, and singers accuse each other of murder. In a desperate scramble to save "Figaro," Da Ponte, and their lives, Mozart and his clever wife Constanze set out to solve this deadly mystery. If they fail, "Figaro" will never play in Vienna! Boston diva Susan Larson was a professional concert and operatic soprano for thirty years. She not only sang a string of Mozart's most iconic soprano roles (Cherubino, Donna Anna, Papagena, Fiordiligi, etc.), she has read his collected letters and researched the lives of his contemporaries to create this antic vision of what might have been: Mozart plays Sherlock Holmes "The Marriage of Figaro" started life as a scandalous stage play by Beaumarchais, and became a scandalous opera by Mozart and Da Ponte. The unusual opera libretto format is divided into the classical five acts. Monologues become arias, and dialogs become duets. Since operas of the time often started with multiple overtures, "The Murder of Figaro" has three. The plot follows that of the opera in an extremely loose fashion, with lots of coffee breaks and detours into Shakespeare, other Mozart operas, hot news and scandals of the day, and the American Revolution. Says Larson about her approach to the book: "The original singers in "Figaro" have always fascinated me. They are largely forgotten, but were hard-working international stars in their day. Did they love the music written for them by the brash young upstart Mozart? Did they squabble and throw prima-donna fits? I invented rather messy lives for them, based on the lives of the many opera singers I have known in my life; sometimes behaving nobly sometimes abominably." Regarding Mozart himself, she adds: "I was a professional concert and operatic soprano for thirty years. Mozart was my hero and idol. We were teacher and pupil. I believe we were friends."


Book Synopsis The Murder of Figaro by : Susan Larson

Download or read book The Murder of Figaro written by Susan Larson and published by . This book was released on 2019-07-08 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If you attended the opera in the 18th century, you could buy a program booklet with side-by-side translations of the text and a list of the participants. Think of "The Murder of Figaro" as one such souvenir booklet. Just add music--and imagination: It's 1786, and "The Marriage of Figaro," a new comic opera by Amadé Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte, has just begun its first onstage rehearsal when a corpse is discovered in the wings: it's the universally-loathed Imperial Censor. Despite a verdict of suicide, Da Ponte is arrested, and singers accuse each other of murder. In a desperate scramble to save "Figaro," Da Ponte, and their lives, Mozart and his clever wife Constanze set out to solve this deadly mystery. If they fail, "Figaro" will never play in Vienna! Boston diva Susan Larson was a professional concert and operatic soprano for thirty years. She not only sang a string of Mozart's most iconic soprano roles (Cherubino, Donna Anna, Papagena, Fiordiligi, etc.), she has read his collected letters and researched the lives of his contemporaries to create this antic vision of what might have been: Mozart plays Sherlock Holmes "The Marriage of Figaro" started life as a scandalous stage play by Beaumarchais, and became a scandalous opera by Mozart and Da Ponte. The unusual opera libretto format is divided into the classical five acts. Monologues become arias, and dialogs become duets. Since operas of the time often started with multiple overtures, "The Murder of Figaro" has three. The plot follows that of the opera in an extremely loose fashion, with lots of coffee breaks and detours into Shakespeare, other Mozart operas, hot news and scandals of the day, and the American Revolution. Says Larson about her approach to the book: "The original singers in "Figaro" have always fascinated me. They are largely forgotten, but were hard-working international stars in their day. Did they love the music written for them by the brash young upstart Mozart? Did they squabble and throw prima-donna fits? I invented rather messy lives for them, based on the lives of the many opera singers I have known in my life; sometimes behaving nobly sometimes abominably." Regarding Mozart himself, she adds: "I was a professional concert and operatic soprano for thirty years. Mozart was my hero and idol. We were teacher and pupil. I believe we were friends."

The Assassination of Mozart

The Assassination of Mozart

Author: David Weiss

Publisher: New York : W. Morrow, 1971 [c1970]

Published: 1971

Total Pages: 392

ISBN-13:

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Told through the eyes of fictional character, Jason Otis, this book presents a fictionized account of the people and events surrounding the death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.


Book Synopsis The Assassination of Mozart by : David Weiss

Download or read book The Assassination of Mozart written by David Weiss and published by New York : W. Morrow, 1971 [c1970]. This book was released on 1971 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Told through the eyes of fictional character, Jason Otis, this book presents a fictionized account of the people and events surrounding the death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Looking for Mozart

Looking for Mozart

Author: Ken Roy

Publisher:

Published: 2001-11

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 9780759644267

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Book Synopsis Looking for Mozart by : Ken Roy

Download or read book Looking for Mozart written by Ken Roy and published by . This book was released on 2001-11 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Mozart's Last Aria

Mozart's Last Aria

Author: Matt Rees

Publisher: Corvus

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 291

ISBN-13: 9781848879171

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'Mozart, music, and murder seamlessly blend together in this fascinating historical mystery. A perfect read.' Tess Gerritsen


Book Synopsis Mozart's Last Aria by : Matt Rees

Download or read book Mozart's Last Aria written by Matt Rees and published by Corvus. This book was released on 2012 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Mozart, music, and murder seamlessly blend together in this fascinating historical mystery. A perfect read.' Tess Gerritsen

The Journalist and the Murderer

The Journalist and the Murderer

Author: Janet Malcolm

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2011-06-22

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 0307797872

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A seminal work and examination of the psychopathology of journalism. Using a strange and unprecedented lawsuit by a convicted murder againt the journalist who wrote a book about his crime, Malcolm delves into the always uneasy, sometimes tragic relationship that exists between journalist and subject. Featuring the real-life lawsuit of Jeffrey MacDonald, a convicted murderer, against Joe McGinniss, the author of Fatal Vision. In Malcolm's view, neither journalist nor subject can avoid the moral impasse that is built into the journalistic situation. When the text first appeared, as a two-part article in The New Yorker, its thesis seemed so radical and its irony so pitiless that journalists across the country reacted as if stung. Her book is a work of journalism as well as an essay on journalism: it at once exemplifies and dissects its subject. In her interviews with the leading and subsidiary characters in the MacDonald-McGinniss case -- the principals, their lawyers, the members of the jury, and the various persons who testified as expert witnesses at the trial -- Malcolm is always aware of herself as a player in a game that, as she points out, she cannot lose. The journalist-subject encounter has always troubled journalists, but never before has it been looked at so unflinchingly and so ruefully. Hovering over the narrative -- and always on the edge of the reader's consciousness -- is the MacDonald murder case itself, which imparts to the book an atmosphere of anxiety and uncanniness. The Journalist and the Murderer derives from and reflects many of the dominant intellectual concerns of our time, and it will have a particular appeal for those who cherish the odd, the off-center, and the unsolved.


Book Synopsis The Journalist and the Murderer by : Janet Malcolm

Download or read book The Journalist and the Murderer written by Janet Malcolm and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2011-06-22 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A seminal work and examination of the psychopathology of journalism. Using a strange and unprecedented lawsuit by a convicted murder againt the journalist who wrote a book about his crime, Malcolm delves into the always uneasy, sometimes tragic relationship that exists between journalist and subject. Featuring the real-life lawsuit of Jeffrey MacDonald, a convicted murderer, against Joe McGinniss, the author of Fatal Vision. In Malcolm's view, neither journalist nor subject can avoid the moral impasse that is built into the journalistic situation. When the text first appeared, as a two-part article in The New Yorker, its thesis seemed so radical and its irony so pitiless that journalists across the country reacted as if stung. Her book is a work of journalism as well as an essay on journalism: it at once exemplifies and dissects its subject. In her interviews with the leading and subsidiary characters in the MacDonald-McGinniss case -- the principals, their lawyers, the members of the jury, and the various persons who testified as expert witnesses at the trial -- Malcolm is always aware of herself as a player in a game that, as she points out, she cannot lose. The journalist-subject encounter has always troubled journalists, but never before has it been looked at so unflinchingly and so ruefully. Hovering over the narrative -- and always on the edge of the reader's consciousness -- is the MacDonald murder case itself, which imparts to the book an atmosphere of anxiety and uncanniness. The Journalist and the Murderer derives from and reflects many of the dominant intellectual concerns of our time, and it will have a particular appeal for those who cherish the odd, the off-center, and the unsolved.

Evidence

Evidence

Author: Howard S. Becker

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2017-07-10

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 022646637X

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Howard S. Becker is a master of his discipline. His reputation as a teacher, as well as a sociologist, is supported by his best-selling quartet of sociological guidebooks: Writing for Social Scientists, Tricks of the Trade, Telling About Society, and What About Mozart? What About Murder? It turns out that the master sociologist has yet one more trick up his sleeve—a fifth guidebook, Evidence. Becker has for seventy years been mulling over the problem of evidence. He argues that social scientists don’t take questions about the usefulness of their data as evidence for their ideas seriously enough. For example, researchers have long used the occupation of a person’s father as evidence of the family’s social class, but studies have shown this to be a flawed measure—for one thing, a lot of people answer that question too vaguely to make the reasoning plausible. The book is filled with examples like this, and Becker uses them to expose a series of errors, suggesting ways to avoid them, or even to turn them into research topics in their own right. He argues strongly that because no data-gathering method produces totally reliable information, a big part of the research job consists of getting rid of error. Readers will find Becker’s newest guidebook a valuable tool, useful for social scientists of every variety.


Book Synopsis Evidence by : Howard S. Becker

Download or read book Evidence written by Howard S. Becker and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2017-07-10 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Howard S. Becker is a master of his discipline. His reputation as a teacher, as well as a sociologist, is supported by his best-selling quartet of sociological guidebooks: Writing for Social Scientists, Tricks of the Trade, Telling About Society, and What About Mozart? What About Murder? It turns out that the master sociologist has yet one more trick up his sleeve—a fifth guidebook, Evidence. Becker has for seventy years been mulling over the problem of evidence. He argues that social scientists don’t take questions about the usefulness of their data as evidence for their ideas seriously enough. For example, researchers have long used the occupation of a person’s father as evidence of the family’s social class, but studies have shown this to be a flawed measure—for one thing, a lot of people answer that question too vaguely to make the reasoning plausible. The book is filled with examples like this, and Becker uses them to expose a series of errors, suggesting ways to avoid them, or even to turn them into research topics in their own right. He argues strongly that because no data-gathering method produces totally reliable information, a big part of the research job consists of getting rid of error. Readers will find Becker’s newest guidebook a valuable tool, useful for social scientists of every variety.

A Measure of Murder

A Measure of Murder

Author: Leslie Karst

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books

Published: 2017-02-07

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 1683310217

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Sally Solari is busy juggling work at her family’s Italian restaurant, Solari’s, and helping Javier plan the autumn menu for the restaurant she’s just inherited, Gauguin. Complicating this already hectic schedule, Sally joins her ex-boyfriend Eric’s chorus, which is performing a newly discovered version of her favorite composition: the Mozart Requiem. But then, at the first rehearsal, a tenor falls to his death on the church courtyard--and his soprano girlfriend is sure it wasn’t an accident. Now Sally's back on another murder case mixed in with a dash of revenge, a pinch of peril, and a suspicious stack of sheet music. And while tensions in the chorus heat up, so does the kitchen at Gauguin--set aflame right as Sally starts getting too close to the truth. Can Sally catch the killer before she’s burnt to a crisp, or will the case grow as cold as yesterday’s leftovers? In a stew of suspects and restaurateurs, trouble boils over in the second in Leslie Karst’s tasty and tantalizing Sally Solari mystery series, A Measure of Murder.


Book Synopsis A Measure of Murder by : Leslie Karst

Download or read book A Measure of Murder written by Leslie Karst and published by Crooked Lane Books. This book was released on 2017-02-07 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sally Solari is busy juggling work at her family’s Italian restaurant, Solari’s, and helping Javier plan the autumn menu for the restaurant she’s just inherited, Gauguin. Complicating this already hectic schedule, Sally joins her ex-boyfriend Eric’s chorus, which is performing a newly discovered version of her favorite composition: the Mozart Requiem. But then, at the first rehearsal, a tenor falls to his death on the church courtyard--and his soprano girlfriend is sure it wasn’t an accident. Now Sally's back on another murder case mixed in with a dash of revenge, a pinch of peril, and a suspicious stack of sheet music. And while tensions in the chorus heat up, so does the kitchen at Gauguin--set aflame right as Sally starts getting too close to the truth. Can Sally catch the killer before she’s burnt to a crisp, or will the case grow as cold as yesterday’s leftovers? In a stew of suspects and restaurateurs, trouble boils over in the second in Leslie Karst’s tasty and tantalizing Sally Solari mystery series, A Measure of Murder.