2 books, 1 fiction 1 nonfiction. First is by Charles Martin "Wrapped In Rain". Alcoholic Father, Abused son. I bought it for my DH for Christmas one year and he reads very little but he begged me to find him all the other Charles Martin books for him that I could. You need a box of Kleenex to read one of his books.
Recently I picked up at the Public Library "The Soloist : a lost dream, an unlikely friendship, and the redemptive power of music by Steve Lopez."
"Scurrying back to his office one day, Lopez, a columnist for the L.A. Times, is stopped short by the ethereal strains of a violin. Searching for the sound, he spots a homeless man coaxing those beautiful sounds from a battered two-string violin. When the man finishes, Lopez compliments him briefly and rushes off to write about his newfound subject, Nathaniel Ayers, the homeless violinist. Over the next few days, Lopez discovers that Nathaniel was once a promising classical bass student at Juilliard, but that various pressures?including being one of a few African-American students and mounting schizophrenia?caused him to drop out. Enlisting the help of doctors, mental health professionals and professional musicians, Lopez attempts to help Nathaniel move off Skid Row, regain his dignity, develop his musical talent and free himself of the demons induced by the schizophrenia (at one point, Lopez arranges to have Ayers take cello lessons with a cellist from the L.A. Symphony). Throughout, Lopez endures disappointments and setbacks with Nathaniel's case, questions his own motives for helping his friend and acknowledges that Nathaniel has taught him about courage and humanity."
It's coming out as a movie sometime later this year starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. and directed by Joe Wright (according to Amazon). I thought it was....interesting. I had a hard time putting the book down once I started reading it.
Recently I picked up at the Public Library "The Soloist : a lost dream, an unlikely friendship, and the redemptive power of music by Steve Lopez."
"Scurrying back to his office one day, Lopez, a columnist for the L.A. Times, is stopped short by the ethereal strains of a violin. Searching for the sound, he spots a homeless man coaxing those beautiful sounds from a battered two-string violin. When the man finishes, Lopez compliments him briefly and rushes off to write about his newfound subject, Nathaniel Ayers, the homeless violinist. Over the next few days, Lopez discovers that Nathaniel was once a promising classical bass student at Juilliard, but that various pressures?including being one of a few African-American students and mounting schizophrenia?caused him to drop out. Enlisting the help of doctors, mental health professionals and professional musicians, Lopez attempts to help Nathaniel move off Skid Row, regain his dignity, develop his musical talent and free himself of the demons induced by the schizophrenia (at one point, Lopez arranges to have Ayers take cello lessons with a cellist from the L.A. Symphony). Throughout, Lopez endures disappointments and setbacks with Nathaniel's case, questions his own motives for helping his friend and acknowledges that Nathaniel has taught him about courage and humanity."
It's coming out as a movie sometime later this year starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. and directed by Joe Wright (according to Amazon). I thought it was....interesting. I had a hard time putting the book down once I started reading it.