Totally essential guide to sound art: a 304 pages book in hard cover + a CD with pieces from Bill Fontana ('Harmonic Bridge'), Steve Roden ('Rust'), Jean Dubuffet ('Terre foisonnante'), Destroy All Monsters ('Jam Smear'), Anthony Burr et Charles Curtis ('Still and Moving Lines of Silence in Families of Hyperbolas' (1973-74) from Alvin Lucier) and Bernhard Gal ('57A').

Over the past century, an art form has emerged that draws from the worlds of visual art and music. Sound art's roots can be found in the experimental work of Italian Futurism, Dada, and later the Fluxus group and the pioneering efforts of the American composer and artist John Cage. In the wake of this groundbreaking work, sound art began to mature into a movement, and artists explored the interactive possibilities of sound and in turn created entirely new modes of experiencing and engaging with art. In this volume, the complete story of sound art is told by one of the country's leading critics and scholars. The author traces the history of this form of art-highlighting the convergence of the indie world bands such as Sonic Youth with the art world-looking at the critical cross-pollination that has led to some of the most important and challenging art being produced today, including work by Christian Marclay, LaMonte Young, Janet Cardiff, Rodney Graham, and Laurie Anderson, among many others.