A Bookshelf on Top of the Sky: 12 Stories About John Zorn

[first lines]

Claudia Heuermann: [narrating] I remember the day very clearly, although it was more than a decade ago. I had just started art school in a small, faraway town, and when I wasn't learning to use a paintbrush, my favorite thing to do was party on the street and go head-banging in a local music club. That day my teachers had told me to stop being a child, while my punk friends were pressuring me to quit with the intellectual art bullshit. What the hell was I supposed to do? I didn't have a clue, and I wasn't getting any closer to an answer when the phone rang.

[phone rings]

Claudia Heuermann: Oh, no. Shit!... Hello?

Voice on the Phone: Hey, how are you?

Claudia Heuermann: Oh, fine, you?

Voice on the Phone: Listen, I've got this new record. Amazing music. Can you come over? You really got to hear it.

Claudia Heuermann: Now? Why not?

Claudia Heuermann: [narrating] On the strangely fascinating and violent-looking cover I saw the title, "Torture Garden." The name of the band was Naked City, lead by someone named John Zorn. I asked who John Zorn was, not yet knowing that this record would change my life forever.