One day after celebrating his Love This Giant collaboration with St. Vincent at the Tower, David Byrne gets on his bike and visits the Free Library for a reading of How Music Works, from the McSweeney’s imprint. Byrne is better known as a musician than an author, but he’s written nine books — an output equal to his solo albums (also nine) and besting the Talking Heads’ efforts (eight). In his latest, Byrne draws on his musical history to write about the smart art of sound and its social contexts: how the architecture of venues can shape arrangement and composition, the lack of humanity in computer music-making, the long-ago joy of pianos in the parlor, the role of certain tones in religious ritual. When Byrne best connects in How Music Works, it’s usually about how he’s made (and dressed for) his own prolific output.
Fri., Sept. 28, 7:30 p.m., $15, Free Library, 1901 Vine St., 215-686-5322, freelibrary.org.
