False Advertising

I just received my copy of The Lexicon of Musical Invective: Critical Assaults on Composers Since Beethoven’s Time by Nicolas Slonimsky.

You'll see on the cover a depiction of G.B. Shaw splashing ink at Beethoven. However, a quick check in the index reveals a grand total of three measly quotes from Shaw, all of them about Brahms.

This is disappointing. Shaw wrote reams of musical criticism, much of it deliciously snotty. Whether he ever took a dig at ol' Ludwig Van I very much doubt, but he certainly had plenty of bile to spread about.

I suppose the selection of cover art has more to do with sales-generating face recognition than anything else.

Hmph.