Twice Upon a Time: Listening to New York (Kindle Single)

When the internationally acclaimed author Hari Kunzru first moved to New York he chose as his imaginary guide the blind composer and musician Moondog, AKA, Louis Hardin. Dressed as a Viking, Moondog played his “snaketime” rhythms on the streets of New York for over three decades from 1943-74. With great lyrical intensity Kunzru recalls the strange soundscape of an unfamiliar place, and celebrates both the city and the musical genius of Moondog.

“The next day I take an MP3 player and I make the journey again, accompanied by Moondog’s early music, recordings from the forties and fifties . . . Sounds leak in and out the iPod’s ear buds, layering modern 6th Avenue onto city noise of sixty years ago. Archaeology.”

Twice Upon A Time: Listening to New York is an extraordinary essay on the sounds of New York, beautifully designed with photographs of the city. It gives readers the opportunity to experience the city through the eyes and ears of Hari Kunzru, one of Granta’s "Best of Young British Novelists," and author of My Revolutions and Gods Without Men.