When aspiring violinist Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman lands a job with a professional ensemble in New York City, she imagines she has achieved her lifelong dream. But the ensemble proves to be a sham. When the group "performs", the microphones are never on. Instead, the music blares from a CD. The mastermind behind this scheme is a peculiar and mysterious figure known as The Composer, who is gaslighting his audiences with music that sounds suspiciously like the Titanic movie soundtrack. On tour with his chaotic ensemble, Hindman spirals into crises of identity and disillusionment as she "plays" for audiences genuinely moved by the performance, unable to differentiate real from fake.

Sounds Like Titanic is a surreal, often hilarious coming-of-age story. Hindman writes with precise, candid prose and sharp insight into ambition and gender, especially when it comes to the difficulties young women face in a world that views them as silly, shallow and stupid. As the story swells to a crescendo, it gives voice to the anxieties and illusions of a generation of women, and reveals the failed promises of a nation that takes comfort in false realities.

About the Author
Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman has "performed" on PBS, QVC, and at concert halls worldwide. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, McSweeney's, Brevity, and Hippocampus. She holds a BA in Middle Eastern studies and an MFA in creative nonfiction writing from Columbia University, and a PhD in English from the University of North Texas. She teaches creative writing at Northern Kentucky University and lives in Newport, Kentucky.

Reviews
"Sardonic, moving." -- The New Yorker
"Brave and captivating." -- The Los Angeles Review of Books
"[An] outrageously funny, shrewdly meta memoir." -- O, The Oprah Magazine


Awards
Short-listed for National Book Critics Circle Award 2019.



Book Information
ISBN 9780393357738
Author Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint WW Norton & Co
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Weight(grams) 211g
Dimensions(mm) 211mm * 140mm * 18mm