The Soloist
The Soloist Mark Salzman paperback, 285 pages As anyone can gather by now, I am into nonfiction. But from time to time, I get to pick up novels like this one called The Soloist and I was surprised that I loved how the author engaged me in the journey of self-examination by a child-wonder cellist who suddenly lost his luster without rhyme or reason, and now transitioning himself into becoming a mentor of an awkward child-wonder. I thought I'll get only a story on mentoring but actually, it is about resignation to the passage of time, of talent, of people in our lives and embracing the new possibilities, meeting new faces and mentoring. It is almost an absorbing soliloquy for me despite there are other characters molded in the story such as in the courtroom trial when Renne did his jury duty and when his tutorial started. When Renne finally said his piece towards the end, I was also ready to hear him. This is one quietly convincing and powerfully though-provoking novel on s...