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Title details for The Soloist by Steve Lopez - Available

The Soloist

A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music

by Steve Lopez
William Hughes
Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
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2 of 2 copies available

A moving story of the remarkable bond between a journalist in search of a story and a homeless, classically trained musician—now a major motion picture from DreamWorks starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. When Steve Lopez saw Nathaniel Ayers playing his heart out on a two-string violin on Los Angeles' skid row, he found it impossible to walk away. More than thirty years earlier, Ayers had been a promising classical bass student at Juilliard—ambitious, charming, and also one of the few African Americans—until he gradually lost his ability to function, overcome by schizophrenia. When Lopez finds him, Ayers is homeless, paranoid, and deeply troubled, but glimmers of that brilliance are still there. Over time, Steve Lopez and Nathaniel Ayers form a bond, and Lopez imagines that he might be able to change Ayers' life. Lopez collects donated violins, a cello, even a stand-up bass and a piano; he takes Ayers to Walt Disney Concert Hall and helps him move indoors. For each triumph, there is a crashing disappointment, yet neither man gives up. In the process of trying to save Ayers, Lopez finds that his own life is changing, and his sense of what one man can accomplish in the lives of others begins to expand in new ways. Poignant and ultimately hopeful, The Soloist is a beautifully told story of friendship and the redeeming power of music.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    April 17, 2008

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781481551502
      • File size: 193041 KB
      • Duration: 06:42:10

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • Text Difficulty: 7-12

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      William Hughes's easy conversational style captures the heart of this memoir of the friendship between L.A. TIMES columnist Steve Lopez and homeless musician Nathaniel Ayers. Lopez discovers Ayers on Skid Row, not far from the city's Beethoven statue, playing a two-string violin. Ayers was once a musical prodigy who played bass at Juilliard until schizophrenia loosened his grip on reality and a promising career. What begins as a good idea for a column becomes a transforming friendship for both men. Hughes hits no wrong notes in his narration. He is especially impressive in rendering emotions that run the gamut from wonder and awe at the power of music to Ayers's random profane outbursts when paranoia kicks in. A.B. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from February 18, 2008
      Scurrying back to his office one day, Lopez, a columnist for the L.A. Times
      , is stopped short by the ethereal strains of a violin. Searching for the sound, he spots a homeless man coaxing those beautiful sounds from a battered two-string violin. When the man finishes, Lopez compliments him briefly and rushes off to write about his newfound subject, Nathaniel Ayers, the homeless violinist. Over the next few days, Lopez discovers that Nathaniel was once a promising classical bass student at Juilliard, but that various pressures—including being one of a few African-American students and mounting schizophrenia—caused him to drop out. Enlisting the help of doctors, mental health professionals and professional musicians, Lopez attempts to help Nathaniel move off Skid Row, regain his dignity, develop his musical talent and free himself of the demons induced by the schizophrenia (at one point, Lopez arranges to have Ayers take cello lessons with a cellist from the L.A. Symphony). Throughout, Lopez endures disappointments and setbacks with Nathaniel's case, questions his own motives for helping his friend and acknowledges that Nathaniel has taught him about courage and humanity. With self-effacing humor, fast-paced yet elegant prose and unsparing honesty, Lopez tells an inspiring story of heartbreak and hope.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      April 28, 2008
      Perhaps the fact that William Hughes is an accomplished musician and a political science professor allows him to slip so easily into both the voice of free-associating, schizophrenic, homeless musical prodigy Nathaniel Ayers, and the more professional voice of LA Times columnist Lopez. Lopez stumbles across Ayers playing his violin on the street a few blocks from his downtown office and writes a column about him that piques the public's interest. This begins an inspiring tale of a friendship rife with triumphs, disappointments, and human kindness. Hughes reads Lopez's narration with the casual authority of one telling his own story. When the dialogue is Ayers', Hughes makes a subtle but effective vocal shift to make him sound more loose and free, but also more anxious. A Putnam hardcover (Reviews, Feb. 18).

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Text Difficulty:7-12

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