Joan Oliver Goldsmith

How Can We Keep from Singing

In making music, essential lessons for making a life—a celebration of singing and the creative spirit.

Walt Whitman wouldn't have to strain his ears to hear America singing. Over twenty million Americans sing publicly in a choir, chorus, or other ensemble.

In an irresistible writing voice, Joan Oliver Goldsmith celebrates the amateur world of song—and revives the original meaning of the word "amateur" as lover. She brings the reader not only behind the scenes but also inside the music itself, to share the physical joys and agonies of making harmonious sound and the sensual pleasures of hearing it. She shares her inspirations and wisdom—about making mistakes, about courage and difficulty, about teaching, friendship, self-knowledge, and the essential elements of creativity. When Goldsmith observes conductors, she gives insight into leadership, and when she participates in the chorus she intuits the essence of great "followership." Finding the range in which it's most comfortable to sing, she discovers, says something about finding one's home in other areas of life and work. Above all, Goldsmith teaches us to listen to ourselves, and not to hold back in playing the "invisible instrument" of the creative spirit—whether in writing poetry, restoring old cars, planting a garden, or singing a good old song.

"Joan Oliver Goldsmith takes a deep breath and writes from her whole life. Her book resonates for anyone who has opened their mouth to sing; she speaks to anyone who practices an activity simply for the love of it. This is an important, affirming book." —Natalie Goldberg, author of Writing Down the Bones

"In books, sometimes, we find our friends, or those we'd hope to know. In this graceful, original, pure-hearted book, Joan Oliver Goldsmith proves herself an extraordinary companion: a lover of life, a collector of sounds, a passionate sharer of astonishing secrets." —Beth Kephart, author of Into the Tangle of Friendship and A Slant of Sun

"Goldsmith has a large and long view of love. She knows that you don't always get what you want, but you can get some deeper understanding of yourself and other human beings while trying to get what you want." —Robert Fulghum, author of All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

"Joan Oliver Goldsmith conducts you gracefully among the surprisingly connected worlds of commerce, music, and spiritual discovery, leaving you with a precious recognition: you need never live a divided life again. Music powers all." —Kim Stafford, author of Having Everything Right, director of the Northwest Writing Institute at Lewis & Clark College

" 'Singing for your life' is what Goldsmith's book is all about. Read it and sing!" —Bobby McFerrin