ISBN: 9780743276399
Editorial: Scribner
Autor: Knize, Perri
Año de edición: 2009
N° Paginas: 384
Tipo de pasta: Pasta blanda
Descripción: NEW YORK TIMES "EDITOR'S CHOICE." WASHINGTON POST "BEST OF 2008."This "lucid yet lyrical, analytical yet deeply affecting" (Washington Post) memoir of one woman's immersion in a fascinating, international piano subculture, reminds us that reason can't always account for what calls to us, but answering that call can lead to life's most profound experiences. Now in paperback.The daughter of a professional musician, Perri Knize was raised in a home saturated in classical music, but it wasn't until midlife, in the midst of her successful career as an investigative reporter, that she realized she'd missed her true calling--the piano. After a year of lessons, she decides to buy a piano of her own and begins a search for a modestly priced upright. Inexplicably she cannot be satisfied with any upright she plays, and instead she falls madly, illogically, in love with a rare German grand she discovers in a New York showroom. After a long dalliance, Knize refinances her house to buy this "magic" instrument she dubs "Marlene," after Dietrich, for its sultry voice. But when Marlene arrives at her home in Montana, the sound that transfixed her is gone, the tone dead and dull. One piano tuner after another arrives to fix it, but no one can.Rather than send the piano back, Knize embarks on a mad quest to restore the instrument to its rightful sound--and to understand the reason for its elusive power. Putting her investigative skills to work, she falls down a rabbit hole into a hidden world, discovering a tribe of concert artists, dealers, technicians, composers, designers, physicists, philosophers, passionate amateurs, and instrument builders--intriguing and eccentric characters all--whose lives have also been transformed by the spell of a piano. She even hikes into the Austrian Alps to learn how the special trees used to build her piano are grown and harvested. With each step of her journey, Knize draws ever-closer to uncovering the reason her piano's sound vanished, how to get it back, and the deeper secret of how music leads us to a direct experience of the nature of reality.Beautifully composed, passionately performed, Grand Obsession is itself a musical masterpiece.Review"Mesmerizing... her gift for sound extends to the printed word."--The Seattle Times"Reads at the pace of a mystery and the pitch of a love story.... By the end of the story, when Knize is told she 'fell in love with an illusion,' it has the weight of tragedy."--The New York Times"To follow Knize on this crazy-quilt quest is to engage some of the deepest of life's questions... how we respond to beauty, to the world, to each other--and how a soul learns to thrive."-- The Los Angeles Times"Lucid yet lyrical, analytical yet deeply affecting."-- The Washington Post"Exquisite... those who've never touched the keys will find themselves lost in the poetry of the hammers, the strings... the idea of the Schubert concert tuning."--The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)"Intimately powerful: It changed the way I look at the world."--Missoula Independent"I was hooked from the first page. Add passionate writing to a long metaphor for self-realization, and this book travels beyond the sphere of mere music."--The Buffalo News"Knize writes in a wonderfully evocative, lushly romantic style, and music lovers will resonate to her mad pursuit of a gorgeous sound."-- Publishers Weekly"A well-written, heartfelt, classy paean to a singular instrument."-- Kirkus Reviews"Knize's writing soars throughout this account.... From first line to last, Grand Obsession maintains a marvelous consistency of tone, never hitting a false note."--The Freelance Star (Fredericksburg, Virginia)"Knize has crafted a poetic tribute to the piano... Warmly recommended for all collections."-- Library Journal"The book reads like a detective story, one that will totally pull the reader in.... Anyone who doubts the ability of music to touch and enrich the human spi
- Idioma: Inglés
- Envío: Desde EE. UU.
- Libro Impreso y Nuevo
