Old Fogy: His Musical Opinions and Grotesques

"Old Fogy: His Musical Opinions and Grotesques" by James Huneker is a compilation of essays where a grumpy, fictional character, Old Fogy, shares his strong and funny opinions on music from the early 1900s. Old Fogy, introduced by Huneker as an interesting man full of opposite views, uses sarcasm to talk about what he thinks is wrong with music at the time. He likes old-fashioned composers like Bach and Mozart much more than newer ones and complains that modern music is not as good as it used to be, claiming it shows the problems of the modern world. He is not afraid to criticize famous composers like Wagner and Tchaikovsky, saying that they are not as good as the old masters. The book shows Old Fogy's grumpy personality, his strange habits, and his longing for the good old days of music, as he shares what he thinks about music.