Ok I'm going to have quite a bit of free time in the near future and want to do some constructive reading. I pretty much don't ever read books unless mandatory (meaning for school, and even then I use spark notes a good bit) but maybe tomorrow when I'll have no choice but to use time, I could take some initiative on getting hooked on a book. I definatley want something piano-related but not boring yet it needs to be beneficial and historically correct. The only idea I had was The Pianist, which is a great story (I saw the movie) but it's very holocaust based. So if you know of ANY book that even vaguely fits my above preferences please share.
THANKS!

-Carl

Van Cliburn had an autobiography... Arthur Rubenstein has a bio or auto that I read several years ago.
There is video "The Competition"

Great Contemporary Pianists Speak for Themselves, compiled by Elyse Mach.
(A collection of interviews with 20 famous pianists, including Ashkenazy, Brendel, Gould, Horowitz, Janis, and Bolet)

Inextinguishable Symphony: A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany, by Martin Goldsmith
(Not piano related, but music related - another true Holocaust story)

Piano Technique, by Walter Gieseking and Karl Leimer
(All about practice methods, score study, posture, and technical issues)

Bach, Beethoven, and the Boys: Music History as it Ought to be Taught, by David Barber
(A comical account of the history of Western Music)

Fundamentals of Piano Practice, 2nd Edition, by C.C. Chang
(Practice methods and dream psychology)

The Pianist is very poorly written, from a stylistic point of view, but the story is enthralling.

Try this: Thad Carhart : The Piano Shop on the Left Bank Random House, 2001.

The following link will let you read the first four or five pages :

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0...4147535-5919830

I'm sure you'll get "hooked" on it if you have any love for the piano.

Regards,

Concur with BruceD. Excellent book.

BruceD, Ed, I have that book! I think I started it a couple years ago but got caught up in some books for school.

Maybe I will start it again.

Men, Women, and Pianos by Arthur Loesser.

That Arrau book by Horowitz (not the pianist). Can't remember the exact name of the book.

BruceD, I'm gonna try to check out that book from the library first thing tomorrow