“Her description of life in the famous Allendale building . . . is delightful, as are her portraits of fellow musicians and her stories of life in the pit.” —Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times

“A cautionary tale from the trenches . . . An unsparing glimpse into that world of small triumphs, easy frustrations and surprising excess, dispensing dirty little secrets usually reserved for late-night bar talk and backstage gossip. . . . Tindall succeeds at a more ambitious goal: presenting a surprisingly through analysis and scathing critique of the classical music business. . . . This is a fascinating examination of a peculiar culture that provides so much joy while breaking so many hearts.” —Anya Grundmann, Newsday

“A scathing, eye-opening look at life in the orchestra pits.” —Gayle Free and Laura Raposa, Boston Herald

“Salacious . . . An in-the-gutter, name-dropping memoir . . . Tindall is an engaging storyteller. She puts the reader onstage with her. . . . She weaves her professional and personal misjudgments into the institutional dysfunction of classical music. . . .Tindall plumps up her argument with abundant data.” —Pierre Ruhe, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Chronicles her life . . . with a candor meant to set tongues clucking. Tindall spares almost no one in her tale of indulgence and career advancement.” —Charles Ward, Houston Chronicle

“Blair Tindall crams two books into one, mixing a tell-all narrative about the classical-music world’s seamier side with a history of the economics of postwar American arts. Classical-music admirers might think that its performers are sensitive, refined intellectuals, but Tindall sets out to puncture this precious assumption with gusto. . . . The sections that trace classical music’s history and point to where it should go reveal that Tindall has a true passion for her subject.” —Brian Wise, Time Out New York

“Blair Tindall gives us what we’re looking for.” —Valerie Scher, San Diego Union-Tribune

“A raucous, ribald and often raunchy romp . . . She spares no one and nothing. . . . The cymbal-crashing of these two disciplines [music and journalism] is the exact double whammy needed to bring this story to life. . . . She tells a tale that is at once frightening and redeeming. . . . Any artist who’s ever tried to make it as a purist in a world where the rent’s forever past due will undoubtedly find solace and familiarity in Tindall’s scathing, intimate look at the classical musician’s world. All others will enjoy Mozart in the Jungle because it’s an exhilarating, albeit often excruciating, ride. B+” —Cathie Beck, Rocky Mountain News

“Wonderfully poignant and powerful . . . Blair Tindall writes so well. I think the average classical music listener will find much of her story compelling and come away with a good understanding of not only the life we lead, but also the difficulties we face in finding a career in music that is creatively satisfying and yet provides us a living. . . . Tindall has a real and human story to tell.” —Alan Black, Charlotte Observer

“Exploding the stereotype of classical musicians as overcultivated fops in formal wear, Tindall chronicles her sex life with candor and lusty flair. . . . Laced with sordid stories that debunk the prim and proper image of classical musicians . . . Her memoir of the freelancer’s harried, marginal existence is a valuable reality check to the glamorous myth of classical music.” —John Fleming, St. Petersburg Times

“[This] tattling memoir is full of scandal, indulgence and the musical life. . . . An accessible primer . . . With sharp powers of observation, she captures revealing details of her times and surroundings. . . . Tindall’s writing is excellent and clear; she maintains the reader’s interest with clever twists of phrase and plot. . . . [Her] insightful analysis of this insular world’s overindulgence and misdirection should be heeded by all in positions of influence.” —Mick Scott, Winston-Salem Journal

“Yes, there’s plenty of titillating smut here. . . . This is also a jeremiad on the dangers of fantasy lives. . . . She suggests that the American classical-music establishment is overdue for some reality checks. She’s right.” —Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News

“This “Behind the Classical Music” memoir lays bare the unexpectedly steamy and sordid world of professional symphonies. Who knew?” —Jennifer Ceaser, Hamptons

“As appalling as it is irresistible.” —Mark Sauer, Copley News Service

“Fascinating . . . Begins as a lilting fairy tale, segues into opera and evolves into a dissonant, postmodern work—unflinching autobiography, bitter cautionary tale and riveting expos’ of the classical-music business.” —Helen Sheehy, Opera News

“The strongest moments are found in passages where Tindall is so overcome with emotional memory. . . . Her writing feels unforced and alive. No matter how much you do or don’t know about classical music, in these moments you care about Blair Tindall. . . . Her perspective as a rank-and-file freelancer is an all-too-rarely heard voice in the larger cultural debate surrounding the future of classical music in America. . . . There is much to absorb vicariously through this walk in Blair Tindall’s shoes, especially for those who have never experienced the thrill of reacting to a conductor’s downbeat or sat in a cramped orchestra pit playing the same show for the 40th time.” —Molly Sheridan, Symphony

“Written with pop culture-savvy flair . . . Mozart is a delightfully unlikely page-turner. . . . It’s sure to instill . . . an unprecedented admiration of this deviant art.” —Alli Marshall, Mountain Xpress

“No other writer has better described the realities of the music business.” —Ken Keuffel, Winston-Salem Journal

“Fascinating on many levels, and after reading it, you will never look at those prim, black-clad musicians playing Mozart the same way again.” —Dottie Ashley, Post & Courier (Charleston)

“Whether you”e a devout classical music enthusiast or a full tilt rock “n roller (or anywhere in between for that matter) this memoir is an interesting and overly informative look into the classical music scene.” —Bobby Blades, Curledup.com

“A provocative blend of no-holds-barred memoir and tough-minded reporting about the state of classical music. . . . A real eye-opener.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A fresh, highly readable and caustic perspective on an over-glamorized world.” —Publishers Weekly

“Scathing . . . Its scandalous peek behind the decorous façade of classical music is bound to cause shock waves.” —Michael Shelden, Daily Telegraph

“Tindall almost always comes down on the side of honesty. She is clear-eyed, cool-hearted and unafraid to bite the hand that has fed her.” —Edward Smith, Telegraph (UK)

“It really is a cracking read and a must for anyone seeking to expand their knowledge about the people behind the music.” —Colin Woods, Northern Echo (UK)

“Candid and intriguing.” —Observer Music Monthly (UK)

“This is the most candid and unsparing account of orchestral life ever to see print. It details both the petty corruptions of power — the cliques that control who plays in orchestras and who doesn’t — and the more sordid corruptions of flesh and cash. Blair Tindall tells it how it is — the sex, the drugs, the influence racketeers. The abuses she exposes begin at high school and persist at the deathbed. But she also illuminates, vividly and unflinchingly, how classically trained musicians have lost their grip on reality and, with it, their place in society. This is a valuable book, a must-read for anyone who cares for the preservation of live performance.” —Norman Lebrecht, author of The Maestro Myth and The Song of Names

“Parents of young classical musicians beware. After reading Mozart in the Jungle you may want to redirect your children towards more wholesome pursuits, such as playing drums in a speed-metal band.” —Jacob Slichter, author of So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star and drummer for Semisonic (Closing Time)

“Blair Tindall blows the lid off the world of classical music in this book that transcends the genre of memoir. While an intensely personal and revealing story, Mozart in the Jungle is also fine investigative journalism, with an abiding sense of history. It’s a remarkable multi-layered work of non-fiction. Blair entered the sacred temple of classical music—for so long shrouded in mystery, off-limits to critical examination—and emerged with this tale of a non-profit “industry” bent on self destruction, conductors feeding at the trough of excess, both monetary and sexual. This book is a must-read for anyone concerned about the arts in America.” —Dale Maharidge, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning And Their Children After Them

“Busloads of kids arrive in Manhattan daily, driven to ‘make it there.” But for many, the climb to the top is more often like a trek through a jungle. Blair Tindall brilliantly captures the energy, excitement and existential angst of it all, including the Allendale Apartments, the place where the lives of so many of us—musicians, artists and writers—intersected. It took a ‘double threat” like Blair Tindall—a world class oboist whose musical talents are matched by her journalistic skills—to tell the story. It makes me long for those days, leaky ceilings and all.” —Bill Lichtenstein, senior executive producer of public radio’s “The Infinite Mind”; president, Lichtenstein Creative Media

“No book before this has so accurately captured the harrowing life of the free-lance artist trying to make a career in the music business as Blair Tindall’s Mozart in the Jungle. While her experiences are unique to her, all musicians recognize the financial insecurity, artistic frustration and personal chaos that she describes. And, along the way, framing her story, is an unblinking, thoughtful, detailed analysis of the recent difficulties in the symphony, opera and ballet fields and some insights into the current state of musician employment—or, more accurately, non-employment in the recording field. A valuable and engrossing work.” —Bill Moriarity, Former President of Local 802 American Federation of Musicians

“In her wonderfully eloquent memoir Blair Tindall takes us into the rehearsal rooms and the orchestra pits, the dressing rooms and the bedrooms of the classical musicians who make such beautiful music in some of America’s best known orchestras. Mozart in the Jungle is a remarkably candid and courageous book.” —Margot Livesey