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Smiling Shelves

A Romance on Three Legs [Review]

11/13/2014

2 Comments

 
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It always amazes me how writers of nonfiction can turn one very specific subject into a full-length, fascinating book. I mean, this is a book about one guy – Glenn Gould. And not even his entire career, but one specific part of his career – the search for his ideal piano. That sounds like material for a newspaper or magazine article, not a whole book.

But Katie Hafner makes it work, and brilliantly so. The book obviously does cover more than just that one specific part of Gould’s life. Hafner tells us about Gould’s childhood, his concert career, and his relationships with others. Through it all, she makes him into a very sympathetic and likable man, although many that knew him would have told you differently. Yet the focus never strays too far from Gould’s working relationship with the Steinway company, and his very particular demands for a piano.

That focus also encompasses Gould’s tuner for many years, a man who was almost entirely blind and certainly entirely gifted. I’ve played piano since I was five years old, and I had no idea of everything that could be done to tweak a piano’s sound or feel. It goes way beyond tuning to voicing and other such techniques that take hours upon hours of painstaking work. I found these descriptions as fascinating as anything Hafner had to say about Gould.

Glenn Gould was an eccentric man with unique demands for his perfect piano. Katie Hafner is an author who brings that search – and Gould’s world – to life in the most compelling way possible.

And in case you're curious (as I was), here is a video of Gould playing on his ideal piano.
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Learning
Find it on: Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  Better World Books
2 Comments
Sue
11/14/2014 03:29:43 am

I was thinking that I once heard a recording of him singing along, and, lo and behold, he sings on this one, too. Sounds like an interesting book.

Reply
Julie @ Smiling Shelves link
11/16/2014 09:13:21 am

The book talks about him singing along, too. I think you'd really like this book - you can borrow it, if you want. :)

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    My name is Julie, and I own a lot of books. As in, they are stacked on the floor because I've run out of room on the shelves. And those shelves? There are so many books on them that they smile -- not sag; smile. This blog will cover book reviews and all manner of other bookish things.

    You can contact me at julie@smilingshelves.com.

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