Every Good Boy Does Fine: A Love Story, in Music Lessons

A beautifully written, witty memoir that is also an immersive exploration of classical music--its power, its meanings, and what it can teach us about ourselves--from the MacArthur Genius Grant-winning pianist "Jeremy Denk has written a love letter to the music, and especially to the music teachers, in his life."--Conrad Tao, pianist and composer In Every Good Boy Does Fine, renowned pianist Jeremy Denk traces an implausible journey. His life is already a little tough as a precocious, temperamental six-year-old piano prodigy in New Jersey, and then a family meltdown forces a move to New Mexico. There, Denk must please a new taskmaster, an embittered but devoted professor, while navigating junior high school. At sixteen he escapes to college in Ohio, only to encounter a bewildering new cast of music teachers, both kind and cruel. After many humiliations and a few triumphs, he ultimately finds his way as a world-touring pianist, a MacArthur "Genius," and a frequent performer at Carnegie