Hanging Off the Edge: Revelations of a Modern Troubadour.

* Hanging Off the Edge: Revelations of a Modern Troubadour, by Priscilla McLean. iUniverse (www.iuniverse.com), 2006. $21.95.

Hanging Off the Edge: Revelations of a Modern Troubadour chronicles the vicissitudes of author Priscilla McLean's non-traditional career choices. Like the traveling poet-composers of Medieval Europe, composer McLean and her musician husband traveled the United States seeking opportunities to engage audiences at colleges, conservatories, universities and music festivals with performances of innovative contemporary works. They were presented in residencies, master classes and multimedia productions. The McLeans relinquished the comfort of more conventional careers to live the hand-to-mouth existence of traveling musicians (modern troubadours) with trials and tribulations including lack of insurance, unpredictable incomes, vehicle breakdowns and equipment failures.

The book is divided into four chapters: "Beginnings and Endings," "Becoming," "The Composing Life" and "Dangling Thoughts." The writing style combines elements of a diary with personal introspection and reflection, and elements of a travelogue with the cataloging of specific events from the mundane to the sublime: a flat tire side-by-side with an especially inspiring performance. This format sometimes creates confusion with its non-chronological entries.

The book clearly addresses contemporary concerns of how to make a viable living in music during a time when the demand for live performances, as well as the audience of music aficionados to support these performances, is shrinking. Music students and pre-professional musicians embarking on their early careers in music will find this book to be of special interest. McLean is to be commended for her courage. Few musicians would have either the tenacity or the imagination to remain "Hanging Off the Edge," for an entire career span.--Reviewed by Louise Lepley, West Hills, California

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