Body  Soul, Frank Conroy
Body  Soul, Frank Conroy
List: $29.99 | Sale: $21.00
Club: $14.99

Body & Soul

Author: Frank Conroy

Narrator: Eric Jason Martin

Unabridged: 18 hr 52 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/28/2019


Synopsis

As a boy, Claude Rawlings looks up through the grated window of his basement apartment to watch the world go by. Poor, lonely, supported by a taxi-driver mother whose eccentricities spin more and more out of control, he faces the terrible task of growing up on the margins of life, destined to be a spectator of that great world always hurrying out of reach. But there is an out-of-tune piano in the small apartment, and in unlocking the secrets of its keys, as if by magic, Claude discovers himself. He is a musical prodigy.

Body & Soul is the story of a young man whose life is transformed by a gift. The gift is not without price—the work is relentless, the teachers exacting—but the reward is a journey that takes him to the drawing rooms of the rich and powerful, private schools, a gilt-edged marriage, and Carnegie Hall. Claude moves through this life as if he were playing a difficult composition, swept up in its drama and tension, surprised by its grace notes. Music, here, becomes a character in its own right, equaled in strength only by the music of Frank Conroy's own unmistakable and true voice.


About Frank Conroy

Frank Conroy is the director of the Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa. He is also an accomplished jazz pianist.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Betsy on May 09, 2016

Reading this evolution of a music prodigy (pianist and eventually a composer) who was born into a seemingly hopeless family situation was an ecstatic experience. The reasons for that are beyond my ability or desire to articulate. But I do want to say that, for some people, this book may be a “magic......more

Goodreads review by Kate on October 10, 2015

I guess I can't get enough of beautifully written bildungsromans. I loved the journey this book took me on. It's an old fashioned great read, a big novel with quirky characters, requisite (and wonderful) coincidences, and a sweep of decades. It's a book that takes you through one person's life--a cr......more

Goodreads review by Lee on June 08, 2025

Through its first half everything's going right for Claude, breaking his way, like a comedy in that he's starting low and rising up, a variation on the "rags to riches" story of a child whose musical talent opens doors usually closed for someone of his class. Loved the evocation of old NYC, Third Av......more

Goodreads review by Jennifer on January 03, 2016

This should be required reading. It became a very emotional read once I became fully immersed around halfway. Amazing character development, and the relationship between Claude and his teacher was just touching beyond words. This book will stay with me a long time.......more

Goodreads review by Richard on October 15, 2022

The title was familiar, but the films and songs that share the same title are not directly connected to this book. This book provides a unique perspective on the life of a brilliant musician, with an intense psychological portrait that takes the reader inside of the musician's mind and opens up his......more