Instrumental: A Memoir of Madness, Medication, and Music

· Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Ebook
304
Pages

About this ebook

"An intense, eloquent, and appropriately furious memoir with the transporting beauty of classical music . . . The cumulative effect of the literary concert [Rhodes] gives in these pages is transcendence, both for him and for the reader." --Los Angeles Review of Books

“A mesmeric combination of vivid, keen, obsessive precision and raw, urgent energy.” --Zoe Williams, The Guardian

James Rhodes's passion for music has been his lifeline--the thread that has held through a life encompassing abuse and turmoil. But whether listening to Rachmaninov on a loop as a traumatized teenager or discovering a Bach adagio while in a hospital ward, he survived his demons by encounters with musical miracles. These--along with a chance encounter with a stranger--inspired him to become the renowned concert pianist he is today.

Instrumental is a memoir like no other: unapologetically candid, boldly outspoken, and surprisingly funny--shot through with a mordant wit, even in its darkest moments. A feature film adaptation of Rhodes's incredible story is now in development from Monumental Pictures and BBC Films, following a competitive bidding war involving major U.S. and U.K. companies.

An impassioned tribute to the therapeutic powers of music, Instrumental also weaves in fascinating facts about how classical music actually works and about the extraordinary lives of some of the great composers. It explains why and how music has the potential to transform all of our lives.
"An intense, eloquent, and appropriately furious memoir with the transporting beauty of classical music . . . The cumulative effect of the literary concert [Rhodes] gives in these pages is transcendence, both for him and for the reader." --Los Angeles Review of Books “A mesmeric combination of v...

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About the author

James Rhodes had no formal music education until age fourteen. At eighteen, he stopped playing the piano entirely for a decade. But since returning, he has released five albums, all of which topped the iTunes classical charts. He performs in halls around the world and has made TV programs in the U.K. for the BBC, Sky, and Channel 4. His TV documentary Don't Stop the Music raised over £1 million for instruments in U.K. primary schools. Rhodes lives in London. @JRhodesPianist
James Rhodes had no formal music education until age fourteen. At eighteen, he stopped playing the piano entirely for a decade. But since returning, he has released five albums, all of which topped the iTunes classical charts. He performs in halls around the world and has made TV programs in the ...

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