Top ten musical novels

Rebecca Kauffman is originally from rural northeastern Ohio. She received her B.A. in Classical Violin Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, and several years later, she received her M.F.A. in creative writing from New York University. She currently lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. She is the author of Another Place You’ve Never Been, which was long-listed for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize, and the acclaimed The Gunners.

At the Guardian, Kauffman tagged ten great works of fiction that incorporate music and/or musicians, including:

The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker

While Mel and Sharon’s partnership and creative mission are rooted in the field of animation, Whitaker weaves many musical references into this debut, from Wu-Tang Clan to Joy Division, which ground the reader in the characters’ experiences and sensibility. It is one of my favourite novels of recent years, and I have read it in a single day on two separate occasions. It’s about friendship, creativity and collaboration, as well as self-doubt, isolation and the painful reckoning with one’s own past that many artists undergo.

Read about another entry on the list.

My Book, The Movie: The Animators.

The Page 69 Test: The Animators.

--Marshal Zeringue