Offering a one-of-a-kind approach to music and literature of the Americas, this book examines the relationships between musical protagonists from Colombia, Cuba, and the United States in novels by writers such as Gabriel García Márquez, Alejo Carpentier, Zora Neale Hurston, and John Okada.

Preface: Tuning Up Introduction: Overture PART I: FIRST MOVEMENT: NUMBERS, MUSIC, AND THE REALITY OF GABRIEL GÁRC?A MARQUEZ 1. Exposition: Literary and Musical Themes 2. Development: Dissonant Confrontations PART II: INTERMEZZO: MUSICAL SEGMENTALIZING PART III: SECOND MOVEMENT: MEANWHILE, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CARIBBEAN 3. Theme: Alejo Carpentier Sets the Stage 4. Variations: Hurston and Carpentier's Caribbean Counterpoint PART IV: THIRD MOVEMENT: STRETCHING THE NORTHERN BOUNDARIES OF AMERICA 5. Scherzo: ID Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got that Swing 6. Rondo: John Okada Returns to America and Returns to America and Returns . . . PART V: CODA: MORE POSSIBILITIES FOR DISCOVERING MUSIC IN AMERICAN LITERATURE Conclusion: Exit Music: A Marvelous Future