Week 12: Prompt Response

 The Reader's Advisory Matrix:

Sounds Like Titanic by Jesse Chiccehitto Hindman

1. Where is this book on the narrative continuum?
• ✔Highly narrative (reads like fiction)✔
• A mix (combines highly narrative moments with periods of facts-based prose)
• Highly fact based (has few or no narrative moments)
2. What is the subject of this book?
• This book is about a young musician who joins a string quartet as a way to pay for college; the only trick is that the group only mimes playing their instruments as all the music is recorded. Referring to her boss only as "the composer," the narrator describes touring around the U.S. and the world giving imaginary performances but the audience reaction is visceral and real. She soon begins to struggle with her mental health as she tries to understand the meaning of reality and authenticity.
3. What type of book is it?
• Narrative non-fiction
• Memoir
4. Articulate appeal
• What is the pacing of the book?
• The book is fast paced, arranged in four parts that all have short chapters.

• Describe the characters of the book.
• The author/narrator Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman is a strong and willful young woman, but she starts to lose herself and her identity during the course of this brief musical career.

• How does the story feel?
• The story feels familiar and realistic, especially for people who have studied music or are currently musicians.

• What is the intent of the author?
• The author's intent is to show that anything can be art and that audiences are willing to be fooled if the art brings them comfort.

• What is the focus of the story?
• The focus of the story is the author's deteriorating mental health a she devotes a period of her life to this quartet.

• Does the language matter?
• Yes, the language matters because she easily describes musical terms to non-musicians and mental health terms to non-mental health professionals.

• Is the setting important and well described?
• The setting is not important since the story takes place in many different places but it is well described as the landscape changes.

• Are there details  and, if so, of what?
• There are many details of the author's emotional state during this ordeal, her upbringing, the importance of music and higher education in her life, and the other musicians and audience members she meets along the way.

• Are there sufficient charts and other graphic materials? Are they useful and clear?
• This book does not contain any charts or other graphic material.

• Does the book stress moments of learning, understanding, or experience?
• Yes, the book stresses how being a career musician caused immeasurable stress for the author and why she thought she needed to keep living that lifestyle. She explains the sacrifices that her parents made to give her a better life and the mistakes she made to continue seeking that better life.

        5. Why would a reader enjoy this book?

1. The book is fast paced and reads like fiction in that the story seems almost unreal.
2. Mental health is a large focus of the narrative and people with similar mental health challenges will be able to relate to the narrator.
3. The books ponders art and authenticity and the media that has the power to connect us all.