Description
Book SynopsisTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
'A virtuosic memoir . . . elegant, frank and well-structured, that entirely resists cliche . . . readable for both diehard classical music fans and complete newcomers alike . . . A rare feat.' - The Guardian
A uniquely illuminating memoir of the making of a musician, in which renowned pianist Jeremy Denk explores what he learned from his teachers about classical music: its forms, its power, its meaning - and what it can teach us about ourselves.
In this searching and funny memoir, based on his popular New Yorker article, renowned pianist Jeremy Denk traces an implausible journey. Life is difficult enough as a precocious, temperamental, and insufferable six-year-old piano prodigy in New Jersey. But then a family meltdown forces a move to New Mexico, far from classical music’s nerve centers, and he has to please a new taskmaster while navigating cacti, and the perils of junior high scho
Trade Review
Denk . . . has written a book that shows what it’s like to be a pianist, but also what it’s like to be Jeremy Denk. As if that were not enough, it is also about the elements of music, and beyond that an account of the ways in which music and life mirror each other. It is a book like none other. -- Simon Callow * New York Review of Books *
I can't stop telling everyone I know about it . . . It's one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. * Los Angeles Review of Books *
A treasure . . . Denk addresses quite complex issues with extraordinary clarity, illustrating musical points with (frequently very witty) similes and metaphors. He informs, reminisces and entertains in equal measure. -- Steven Isserlis
Wonderful . . . a lesson for the reader in how to listen with more care and wonder to what’s behind the notes we hear. It also makes a strong case for why classical music, with its beauty and ecstasy, matters more than ever. -- Stephen Hough
Jeremy Denk really is that rarest of finds . . . An absolute must read for beginners and experts alike who wish to further explore the soul of the greatest music ever written in the company of a fine and virtuoso guide. -- Edward Docx
A love letter to the art of paying deep attention. -- Susan Tomes
A one-of-a-kind musical autobiography by one of our most brilliant and perceptive classical musicians. -- John Adams, composer of Nixon in China
Among the many virtues of this funny and moving book - its frankness, its generous preservation of wisdom from mentors past, its breathtaking insights about how and why music affects us - one stands out above the rest: it makes me want to practice. -- Conrad Tao
Sometimes you read the first paragraph and know you’ll read to the end. They say writing about music is like dancing about architecture. Jeremy Denk’s book reminds us that dancing about architecture sounds sort of great. -- John Jeremiah Sullivan, author of Pulphead
Jeremy Denk’s writing is as engaged and probing as his playing. Every Good Boy Does Fine hits the spot - a scintillating account of his way into music. -- Ian Bostridge
Like Bach . . . Denk knows how to spin rich counterpoint out of multiple lines. And like Mozart . . . Denk knows how to make art out of 'a love for the steps, the joys of growing and outgrowing and being outgrown'. * The New York Times *
Denk . . . has thought deeply and creatively about what a memoir is, and how to write it. By turns hilarious, original, and painfully revealing, Every Good Boy Does Fine is both an open-hearted coming-of-age story and a meditation on music’s inner secrets . . . Denk . . . is a dizzyingly inventive writer . . . That inventiveness is evident in the book’s conceit — its use of the piano lesson as the vehicle with which to tell his story. * The Boston Globe *
