The Soloist
  • Published: 1 July 2010
  • ISBN: 9781409080725
  • Imprint: Transworld Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 336
Categories:

The Soloist

Formats & editions
EBook
1 Jul 2010
Paperback
1 Sep 2009
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Tie-in to the 2009 movie starring Robert Downey Jnr. and Jamie Foxx

When Steve Lopez sees Nathaniel Ayers playing his heart out on a two-string violin on Los Angeles's skid row, he finds it impossible to walk away. More than thirty years ago, Ayers was a promising student at Julliard - ambitious, charming and hugely talented - until he gradually lost his ability to function, overcome by schizophrenia. When Lopez finds him, Ayers is homeless and paranoid, but glimmers of his earlier brilliance are still there.

Over time, the two men form a bond, and Lopez imagines that he might be able to change Ayer's life. For each triumph, there is a crashing disappointment, yet neither man gives up. Their friendship will changes both of their lives in ways that neither could predict. Poignant and ultimately hopeful, The Soloist is a beautifully told story of devotion in the face of seemingly unbeatable challenges, and the inspiring power of music.
  • Published: 1 July 2010
  • ISBN: 9781409080725
  • Imprint: Transworld Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 336
Categories:

About the author

Steve Lopez

Steve Lopez is a columnist for the LA Times, where he first wrote a series of enormously popular columns about Nathaniel Ayers.

Also by Steve Lopez

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Praise for The Soloist

A newspaper columnist discovers a musical prodigy among the cast-offs on Skid Row, and a story unfolds like a concerto with layers of unlikely, interconnected strains. It is also a powerful story of one journalist's search for the meaning of his own craft, for the nature of sympathy and respect.

Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down

Steve Lopez is a terrific reporter. The Soloist is poignant, wise, and funny.

Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind

With self-effacing humor, fast-paced yet elegant prose and unsparing honesty, Lopez tells an inspiring story of heartbreak and hope as he tries to help an accomplished though homeless violinist find his path off the streets

Publishers Weekly - Books of the Year

A tribute to the strengthening bond between two men and to the transformative power of music.

Glasgow Herald

An enthralling read...A story of the redemptive power of music and the power of persistence and of friendship

The Irish Times
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