Orfeo: A Novel
Richard Powers
In conversation with Michael Silverblatt
January 28, 2014
This new work by the MacArthur Award-winning novelist begins when composer Peter Els opens the door to find the police on his doorstep. His home microbiology lab—where he experiments to find music in surprising patterns—has aroused the suspicions of Homeland Security. Seeking help from family and a longtime collaborator, this “Bioterrorist Bach” hatches a plan to turn his disastrous collision with the security state into a work of art that will reawaken its audience to the sounds all around them.