A fascinating look at Glenn Gould's obsession with a Steinway concert grand that offers new insight into one of the most complex and celebrated pianists of the 20th century, by a New York Times reporter who is an accomplished amateur pianist herself.
Katie Hafner is a correspondent for The New York Times, and also a dedicated amateur pianist. Before joining the Times in 1998 she worked at Newsweek and Business Week. She is the author of four books, three of which concern technology and the Internet: Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier (with John Markoff); Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet (with Matthew Lyon); The Well: A Story of Love, Death and Real Life in the Seminal Online Community; and The House at the Bridge: A Story of Modern Germany. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
"A source of delight and illumination." --San Francisco Chronicle "More books will be written about the famously eccentric pianist Glenn Gould. Perhaps none will be as intriguing as Hafner's." --Booklist
This evocative, detailed account of the compulsive search for a sensitive, highly responsive concert piano by Canadian musical wunderkind Glenn Gould combines the parallel histories of one of the most controversial and brilliant pianists of the last century and the incredible keyboard instrument on which he played for some of his most important recordings. Hafner, a New York Times correspondent, presents a fascinating biography of Gould, who was known for his quirks, including his wearing of winter gear on summer days, his donning of fingerless gloves while playing, his manic fear of germs and hand shaking. The book will greatly appeal to those intrigued by the history of the influential German-bred Steinway piano company, but it is the close interaction of Gould and Charles Verne Edquist, the nearly blind piano tuner, with a Steinway CD 318 concert piano, that lift the book above the usual biography. This book will aid the reader to fully appreciate Gould's creative work in interpreting the early sonatas of Mozart and his majestic rendition of the Goldberg Variations. (June) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
"A source of delight and illumination." --San Francisco Chronicle "More books will be written about the famously eccentric pianist Glenn Gould. Perhaps none will be as intriguing as Hafner's." --Booklist
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