Journalist Daniel Pollack-Pelzner traces playwright and lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda's joyous, colorful journey in his engaging first book, Lin-Manuel Miranda: The Education of an Artist. Through extensive interviews with Miranda, his family, and numerous friends and collaborators, Pollack-Pelzner explores Miranda's drive to create, his gift for remixing disparate genres and elements to make something wholly new, and his playful pursuit of fun and learning.
Pollack-Pelzner recounts Miranda's childhood in Manhattan's Washington Heights, giving full credit to his parents for their steadfast support of his talents. He chronicles Miranda's teenage years at Hunter College High School and his university career at Wesleyan, where the musical that would become In the Heights was born. The origin story of the Hamilton juggernaut is here, too: Miranda's discovery of Ron Chernow's doorstop biography, the initial performance at Obama's White House, the show's off-Broadway debut at the Public Theater. Pollack-Pelzner's narrative also hits new notes: he emphasizes Miranda's consistent efforts to learn from anyone with whom he writes, raps, acts, or otherwise puts on a show. His "cabinet" of Hamilton co-creators and the musical's brilliant original cast make appearances, and Pollack-Pelzner also points to lesser-known inspirations, such as Miranda's Hunter teachers and high school friends. Throughout the book, Pollack-Pelzner celebrates Miranda's boundless curiosity and the "sparkling desire to entertain" that has kept him continually searching for fresh ideas.
Packed with insider quotes, enjoyable details, and musings on the artistic process, Lin-Manuel Miranda is a delightful glimpse into the mind of an endlessly ingenious creator. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams