"An inspirational assessment of a remarkable musical figure."
—David Kettle, BBC Music Magazine, June 1999

"Far from academicizing or otherwise constraining Harrison by placing him between its solid covers, Composing a World seemingly manages the impossible in striking a perfect balance between convention and alterity, seriousness and humor, scholarship and celebration, erudition and readability, macrocosm and microcosm… a minor musicological miracle… A wonderful and most welcome celebration of a remarkable artistic polymath…"
—David Nicholls, Notes (Sept. 1999)

"Engrossing, indispensable…"
—Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times

"Excellent new biography of the latter-day maverick."
—Richard Taruskin, New York Times

"A book anyone interested in twentieth-century music and culture needs to read, and listen to, and savor."
—Denise von Glahn, American Music

"Garrulous and loving, remarkably successful in distilling abstruse musical manipulation, this is one of those rare musical biographies that draws you close to the subject with words of kindness rather than scholarly gobbledygook or scabrous patter."
—Alan Rich, San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle

"Miller and Lieberman opened a treasure chest of rich detail and daunting complexity. With skill, sensitivity and graceful style, they have succeeded in bringing clarity and thoroughness to the challenge."
—Scott MacClelland, Coast Weekly

"[An] unusually clear portrait of an artist whose restless pursuit of beauty has driven him from medium to medium, most often beyond the public eye."
—Kirkus Reviews

"A warm, engagingly shaped portrait of the composer."
—Carol Oja, Institute for Studies in American Music

"Invaluable contributions to the greater understanding of American music."
Christopher Fox, Musical Times

"The composer’s own voice shines through, as do stories of influential encounters with seminal figures of 20th century music such as Arnold Schoenberg, Charles Ives. . . Warmly recommended."
—Library Journal

"Highly recommended."
—Choice