Devil's Trill

PSA: Listening to Ray Chen play Tartini's Devil's Trill Sonata while reading this book yourself is a form of self-care. 4 Stars // 85% Devil's Trill is an exceptionally crafted, expertly played tale of theft, corruption, deceit, and exploitation in the cutthroat classical music industry. It follows bl......more

Sadly I had to give up on this one about a third of the way through. I know, "why bother reviewing a book you didn't read??"...right? I WANTED to like this (I live in Salt Lake City where the author currently works). So I really gave it my all and chewed through as much as I could... The themes and ch......more

Alright, so I'm a violinist, and New York and Japanese culture appeals to me. Needless to say, this review is heavily biased. Here goes. Elias knows what he is talking about. Being an enthusiastic musician himself, when he's on a roll talking about music and philosophy associated to it, he paints som......more

Gerald is my good friend, and came to my bookclub to speak about writing this book. That was fascinating in itself, a ten year saga. It is a murder mystery set in the world of high level New York violin lessons, competitions, agents, etc. I found the story a great read, and I recognized a lot of per......more

I enjoy reading about cultures or communities I have no knowledge or experience in. And this book provided that: a good insight into the elite world of violin classical music. It had an interesting story line with a mystery murder and theft. But it mostly felt drawn out. At times, I felt like I was......more