Desert Plants, originally published in 1975, contains interviews conducted by Walter Zimmermann with an extraordinary array of American composers, providing a unique snapshot of the experimental music scene at that time. Now, this wonderful book has been reissued along with a CD containing recordings of those interviews with:

Morton Feldman, Christian Wolff, John Cage, Philip Corner, Jim Burton, Phil Glass, Steve Reich, Robert Ashley, Alvin Lucier, Joan La Barbara, Pauline Oliveros, David Rosenboom, Richard Teitelbaum, Larry Austin, James Tenney, J. B. Floyd (on Conlon Nancarrow), La Monte Young, Charlemagne Palestine, Charles Morrow, Garrett List, John Mc Guire, and Ben Johnston (on Harry Partch).