One of Gould's friends memorializes the virtuoso pianist. Ostwald, a psychiatrist and violinist who died last year, met Gould in 1957, when both were in their 20s, after Gould's California debut, when the awed Ostwald rushed backstage to congratulate him. Out of that impulsive gesture came an unusual friendship based on Gould's high-speed monologues and Ostwald's sympathetic ear. His book, a hodgepodge of reminiscence and speculation, is not really a biography but rather an affectionate, sometimes clumsy montage. Some of the highlights: the adult Gould's fondness for inventing ``imaginary dialogues in which he talked to himself'' about aspects of music and other topics, at times inhabiting ``make-believe characters'' given names like Thornwaite, Chianti, and Klopweisser; and an image of the boyish Gould, observed singing to cows at pasture in rural Ontario. His oddities get an airing here: The hypochondriac performer often traveled with ``handfuls of assorted pills in his coat pockets, which sometimes led to unfortunate results when he had to cross the border from Canada to the United States. Often he would be detained by suspicious customs officials.'' Also celebrated is Gould the animal lover, who left a large part of his estate to the Toronto Humane Society when he died in 1982 at the age of 50. But of course, Gould's eccentricities are already well known, and one flaw of Ostwald's book is a lack of new material. Also, it is marred by awkward writing, a tendency to philosophize turgidly about music and the state of Gould's mind, and excessive documentation of such matters as Gould's blood pressure and pulse rate. Indeed, Ostwald's professional interest in the pianist's medical worries tends to go overboard. Still, a poignant figure emerges (how could it not?) of the musician as a willing martyr to his talent, drive, and obsessions. (60 photos, not seen)
Pub Date: May 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-393-04077-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1997
Well-told and admonitory.
Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.
Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.
Well-told and admonitory.Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-074486-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
This autobiography might almost be said to supply the roots to Wright's famous novel, Native Son.
It is a grim record, disturbing, the story of how — in one boy's life — the seeds of hate and distrust and race riots were planted. Wright was born to poverty and hardship in the deep south; his father deserted his mother, and circumstances and illness drove the little family from place to place, from degradation to degradation. And always, there was the thread of fear and hate and suspicion and discrimination — of white set against black — of black set against Jew — of intolerance. Driven to deceit, to dishonesty, ambition thwarted, motives impugned, Wright struggled against the tide, put by a tiny sum to move on, finally got to Chicago, and there — still against odds — pulled himself up, acquired some education through reading, allied himself with the Communists — only to be thrust out for non-conformity — and wrote continually. The whole tragedy of a race seems dramatized in this record; it is virtually unrelieved by any vestige of human tenderness, or humor; there are no bright spots. And yet it rings true. It is an unfinished story of a problem that has still to be met.
Perhaps this will force home unpalatable facts of a submerged minority, a problem far from being faced.
Pub Date: Feb. 28, 1945
ISBN: 0061130249
Page Count: 450
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1945
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