Getting Opera: A Guide for the Cultured But Confused

"I like the idea of opera, I just don't know anything about it", is an all-too-common refrain among postcollegiate, culturally literate, and musically savvy -- but perhaps a little intimidated -- twenty- and thirtysomethings all over the country. Now author Matt Dobkin gives us the first real guide to an often mystifying art form.

A witty, irreverent tour through opera land, GETTING OPERA includes synopses of fifty operas; how to score cheap tickets; where to find opera information on the Web; sidebars with surprising facts and figures such as which operas you might like depending on your astrological sign; parallels between rock music and opera (like Radiohead? Maybe you'll like Wagner); top ten (or twenty) lists covering everything from the hottest singers and stars to the most overrated; opera jokes; a guide to opera houses all over the country; and where to begin your CD collection.

GETTING OPERA brings the elusive concepts of opera down to earth, making it accessible to fans and newcomers alike. It has everything the opera-shy reader needs to embark on a thoroughly delightful and instructive operatic journey.