Frozen Music: A Literary Exploration of California Architecture

by David Chu (Editor), John King (Foreword)

In Frozen Music the art of architecture meets the art of literature. The result is page after page, from novels, memoirs, essays, and poetry, of vivid, thought-provoking, and ceaselessly entertaining work by California's best writers.

From the Spanish missions to present-day buildings to futuristic visions, Frozen Music moves from romantic to speculative, comedic to philosophical. Whether it's John Fante's description of the collapse of the brick Alta Loma Hotel or Paul Goldberger's comparison of Frank Gehry's Disney Hall to a musical instrument, Frozen Music offers us not just new ideas but a language with which to describe them.