THE VIOLIN BOOK

Variously entertaining and inspiring background material for young performers -- ranging from anecdotes about stolen Strads and Paganini's virtuosity to the construction and acoustics of modern instruments. Berger also gives some hints about repertoire and advice on career possibilities, but since he still believes in the efficacy of the self-organized New York debut (""You hope that the newspaper critics who usually attend these concerts will write rave reviews"") it's hard to place much faith in the practicality of his recommendations.