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Part 1

• In "Foreword" the author introduces the writings in this collection by explaining that they were written and presented in ways deliberately chosen to be non-traditional.

• Cage presents a lecture saying that in the future all sounds can and will be electronically reproducible and usable in music.

• Cage gives three anecdotes commenting on how the expected can fail to happen, how the jarring and inappropriate can somehow seem beautiful, and how Zen enlightenment comes when least expected.
• The author explains that he had once resisted his creations being called "experimental," but came to realize that "new music" is ultimately all about experimenting with sounds.

• Cage comments that the growth of experimental music follows a general rule about what might be summed up as evolution.

• The author tells stories about how persistence led to success for the author and his wife and about how the coming of an idea...

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