The Soloist: A Novel

Description

At thirty-four, piano soloist Max Randal has hit a wall. It's been four years since his last live performance, and his manager is intent on revitalizing his career with a big concert at Carnegie Hall. As if that wouldn't be enough for Max to worry about, as he struggles to prepare, the ghosts of his failed relationships have come to haunt him - his first ex-wife is dying, his second ex-wife wants to get back together, the mother of his child has taken off for Europe and unexpectedly left him to care for their nine-year-old, and his present girlfriend now wants to get serious. Believe it or not, the plot only gets thicker. Merging dozens of characters and events into a seamless narrative, gifted novelist and poet Nicholas Christopher delivers a compelling tale. Like an exhilarating performance, The Soloist takes you on a brilliant adventure that resonates even once it's over.

Nicholas Christopher is the author of six novels, The Soloist, Veronica, A Trip to the Stars, Franklin Flyer, The Bestiary, and Tiger Rag; eight books of poetry, On Tour with Rita, A Short History of the Island of Butterflies, Desperate Characters- A Novella in Verse, In the Year of the Comet, 5 _x030A_, The Creation of the Night Sky, Atomic Field, and Crossing the Equator- New & Selected Poems, 1972-2004; a nonfiction book, Somewhere in the Night- Film Noir & the American City; and a novel for children, The True Adventures of Nicolo Zen. He lives in New York City.

"An old-fashioned, romantic, and thoroughly enjoyable story about a self-obsessed concert pianist... great fun." "There is an imaginative verve in Christopher's storytelling, which takes the plot on several unexpected turns... The depiction of the world of a virtuoso performer--the tensions and doubts, the rigor and intensive self-scrutiny--ultimately provides Christopher with a potent metaphor for dealing with questions of authenticity and sincerity, intimacy, love, and eroticism. Through this metaphor, the novel achieves a depth and poignancy."