Grand Obsession: A Piano Odyssey by Perri Knize Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Grand Obsession: A Piano Odyssey
Book Review: Wonderful Read
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a career artist, not a writer or a professional reviewer.I LOVE great art,music,food,wine & books! When I attend wine tastings,I know what I like, & others seem to respect my choices & purchase on my recommendations.
Grand Obsession, jumped right off the shelf & begged to be read. I couldn't put it down & read it in one sitting! Occasionally, when I find a book this wonderful, I often email (if possible) the author & convey my thoughts. In my opinion, Grand Obsession...a real page turner, is so beautifully written, I was thrilled to find Perri's website & write to her immediately!
As an artist, I know what it's like to be obsessed & committed to your passion. Her enthusiasm & desire to find the right piano, & her determination to return Marlene to the voice she first heard are to be commended. I applaud her dedication & in turn her success with this book! Bravo!! 5 Stars are not enough to light the sky for your efforts!
Patricia Oblack
Book Review: I heard something different
Summary: 3 Stars
I was quite impressed with Ms. Knize's beginning chapters on rediscovering the piano. There is a real beauty in the rededication to something lost over the years. For those beginning chapters, I give the book three stars.
It's not until Ms. Knize begins her search for her piano that she begins to lose my interest and sympathy. It is simply remarkable to me that someone who so cloyingly reminds us of her ability to disect sound , that she completely misses the "shrill" nature of her own writing.
Book Review: This story hit all the right notes!
Summary: 5 Stars
As a child, I took piano lessons. When I saw Grand Obsession: A Piano Odyssey as an Editor's Pick on _The New York Times Bestseller List), I had to learn more about this book. I had my musician friends read it and they loved, so I had to read it, too.
Grand Obsession: A Piano Odyssey is environmentalist journalist Perri Knize's homage to the piano, her father, and the deep need to answer life's calling. Knize was the child of professional musician. Although he gave it up for a more lucrative career, he trained his daughter to have a musician's ear--something I never understood until I read this book. At the age of 43, Knize's longing to play the piano re-surfaced and sent her on a life-changing quest.
As an adult beginner, Knize didn't rush right out and buy a piano. She knew her budget (pianos are EXPENSIVE), and traveled across the country in search of the perfect one. She found it in New York; it had a smoky, dusky tone that she fell in love with there on the showroom floor. It reminded her of Marlene Dietrich, so she named her new love Marlene. The purchase was made, and Marlene was shipped to Knize's home in Montana. Once set up, the sound was gone. The Marlene she fell in love with was now a horrid cacophony. So the journey to re-find Marlene begins.
Knize researches why the tone and voice were gone. She becomes obsessed with finding the person who can restore Marlene's sound. Needless to say, there aren't a whole lot of piano tuners in Montana. Knize learns that a tuning lasts about one day; it's the voice of the piano that really matters. As she researches, she wants to meet the people and see the places her piano was created.
Kinze chronicle her journey in narrative form that is part mystery, part love story, and part literature. There were a couple of chapter that I found a little boring--like "Physics and Metaphysics"--but I know more than I ever knew about pianos before. Grand Obsession: A Piano Odyssey was an educational, emotional read that I highly recommend.
Armchair Interviews says: If you love good writing, this book is for you. If you love the piano, even better.
Book Review: Music and Words
Summary: 5 Stars
Perri Knize finds the perfect words to describe her obsession for the sound and beauty of her exquisite piano, a Grotian grand she names Marlene. But more significantly, she explores--in eloquent language that borders on poetic-- her mid-life journey to recapture a lost part of her youth.
"At midlife we're called by the inexplicable. What is it that calls to us?"
Grand Obsession will appeal to pianists and non-musicians alike. It taps into the very human urge so many of us have--the urge to go back, to get it right, to find a way to express ourselves.
Robin Meloy Goldsby is the author of Piano Girl: A Memoir
Book Review: Completely absorbing
Summary: 5 Stars
I am not quite finished with this book, but I am loving it. Knize's persistence and the path she follows to learn about her piano are absolutely fascinating. She helps music lovers in general and piano lovers in particular get a little closer to understanding why they react to music the way they do.