In my many years with the John Cage Trust, I've seen a lot of very fine writing about John Cage. This essay, Notes from Underground, Cage : Two (Diary and Letters), is David Rose's latest, and it's absolutely beautiful. Ostensibly, it's a review of both The Selected Letters of John Cage (Wesleyan University Press, 2016) and the first ever edition of all eight parts of Cage's Diary: How to Improve the World (You'll Only Make Matters Worse) (Siglio Press, 2015). But, it's far, far more. David is an avid mycologist, and he brings his passion for and insights into the art, science, and pure contemplation of mushrooms to this essay, so much so that I found myself reading it again and again. He also is spot on with regard to Cage's views on world improvement. I think John Cage would have been heartened to see that someone out there really understood his devotion.
This piece appears here in advance of publication courtesy of Fungi, and its publisher and editor-in-chief, Britt Bunyard. Look for Volume 10:1, Spring 2017, coming out soon.
Laura Kuhn
