Practicing: A Musician's Return to Music (Vintage) - Softcover

"Graceful. . . . A lovely, unique book. . . . A personal journey [that] becomes universal, elevating all in the process." --Los Angeles Times"A thoughtful and fluid meditation on the subject. . . . [Kurtz] might just compel you to call your old grade-school piano teacher to see if she's taking on any new students."--The New York Times Book Review "A sensuous, evocative memoir about love lost and regained. . . . Kurtz has gone back to work on his guitar playing, and his devotion seems like a rebirth of self." --San Francisco Chronicle Book Review"Absorbing . . . [Written] with uncanny sensitivity about his brief career as a professional performer."--The Wall Street Journal

In a remarkable memoir written with insight and humor, Glenn Kurtz takes us from his first lessons at the age of eight to his acceptance at the elite New England Conservatory of Music. After graduation, he attempts a solo career in Vienna but soon realizes that he has neither the ego nor the talent required to succeed and gives up the instrument, and his dream, entirely.

But not forever: Returning to the guitar, Kurtz weaves into the narrative the rich experience of a single practice session. Practicing takes us on a revelatory, inspiring journey: a love affair with music.