The Love Bomb

Three LibrettiRanging In Setting From Ancient Jerusalem To Pre-Apocalyptic LondonFrom An Acclaimed Poet This volume of libretti marks new workand new terrainfor James Fenton. Commissioned by companies in New York and England, these musical pieces make the most of the poet's poignant, witty, and characteristically lyrical verse. Whether evoking modern-day London on the edge of apocalypse in The Love Bomb, a timeless land beyond the moon in this version of Salman Rushdie's children's novel Haroun and the Sea of Stories, or ancient Jerusalem in his stirring oratorio The Fall of Jerusalem, which was composed to mark the millennium, Fenton's lucid storytelling and stylish wordplay bring these pieces vividly to lifewith equal power in performance or on the page.

Haroun and the Sea of Stories was commissioned by the New York City Opera and had its premiere at Lincoln Center in September 2003. "James Fenton writes as no one else dares to-with clarity, wit, and the simplest of rhymes."-Voice Literary Supplement

noted poet and former theater critic, James Fenton writes about poetry, art, and history for The New York Review of Books. His recent books include An Introduction to English Poetry (FSG, 2003).