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

There was a homeless guy that my dad let stay in our unfinished house when I was a kid-- Greg. He stacked up all the slate tiles neatly... and sliced apart the antique bannister poles. I fell once and he rushed over with a first aid kit and doused my knee with witch hazel and bandaged me up. Then he......more

I work with the homeless in Detroit, so Steve Lopez's account of a stunningly gifted violinist living in the street didn't shock me. But it brought to light how much talent is out there unnourished, needing only a chance to grow. The fact that Lopez and Nathaniel Ayers had their differences kept it......more

I was originally skeptical of this book presenting too polished a case of "saving" a homeless man. Similar to "Have You Found Her," Mr. Lopez undergoes a personal development in essentially entering the social work field. He is naive, shocked, etc. Then he is intrigued, obsessed, dedicated. But he,......more

Review by Alan Rich Back in September 1964, Jascha Heifetz, the formidable fiddler, was attempting an ill-advised comeback recital at Carnegie Hall. The crowd out front was enormous, and it naturally included many people with long faces hoping for a turned-back ticket to this sold-out event. I was co......more

O lance é que li esse livro para um trabalho de estudo de caso para a faculdade, Steve Lopez não se aprofunda nas questões clínicas da esquizofrenia, mas dá uma lição de como se deve tratar um esquizofrênico, com muita paciência sobretudo, embora medicação seja também importante. Tentei pesquisar se......more