An Incomplete History of the Art of the Funerary Violin on "All Things Considered"

Peter Mayer, Publisher of The Overlook Press, will be on NPR's "All Things Considered" this evening to discuss Overlook's forthcoming An Incomplete History of the Art of the Funerary Violin by Rohan Kriwaczek.

"It seems to be just another esoteric historical tome published to appeal to an academic audience: “An Incomplete History of the Art of the Funerary Violin,” by Rohan Kriwaczek, a nonfiction account of a little-known genre of music that was condemned by the Roman Catholic Church and almost wiped out by the Great Funerary Purges of the 1830’s and 40’s, according to the winter catalog for the Overlook Press. Except for a few niggling details..."
--New York Times

"Is it a hoax? A surrealist joke? A misunderstood artistic statement? The rarefied world of independent publishers was buzzing with these questions yesterday after a new book about the ancient musical tradition of funerary violin was attacked for being fiction."
--The Guardian UK

"Maybe I have been fooled. It is possible. But it reads so extraordinarily serious and passionate. If it is a hoax, I can only say, I have my cap off.

"I just thought, whether it is true or not true, it is the work of some crazy genius. If it is a hoax, it is a brilliant, brilliant hoax."
--Peter Mayer, quoted in Daily Mail