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Tarfumes.com - A Romance on Three Legs: Glenn Gould's Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Piano
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List Price: $24.99
Our Price: $16.49
Your Save: $ 8.50 ( 34% )
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Manufacturer: Bloomsbury USA
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 786.2092
EAN: 9781596915244
ISBN: 1596915242
Label: Bloomsbury USA
Manufacturer: Bloomsbury USA
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 272
Publication Date: 2008-06-10
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Release Date: 2008-06-10
Studio: Bloomsbury USA
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Editorial Reviews:
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A grand tale of obsession about the brilliant Glenn Gould and the unique, temperamental instrument he came to love beyond all others, by a top New York Times writer.
Glenn Gould was one of the most complex, brilliant artists of the twentieth century, a musician famous for bizarre habits: he wore a hat and gloves even on the warmest summer day; refused to shake hands for fear of germs or damaged fingers; hummed and conducted himself while he played; and traveled the world with a battered old chair, refusing to perform while sitting on anything else.
But perhaps Gould’s greatest obsession of all was with a Steinway concert grand known as CD318. To explain that relationship, which Gould himself described as “a romance on three legs,” Katie Hafner introduces us to the important figures in Gould’s life, including Verne Edquist, his longtime, long-suffering, blind tuner. She offers a fascinating history of the art of tuning, and takes us inside Steinway during the war years, when CD318 was built. And she dissects Gould’s life with the piano, from his first encounter with it to the endless coddling and tweaking that Edquist performed over the years. Hafner includes Gould’s stormy, sometimes outrageous, correspondence with Steinway, and describes his despair when CD318 was fatally dropped from a loading dock.
The book will appeal to fans of books like The Piano Shop on the Left Bank, as well as to those looking fora rich story of obsession like The Orchid Thief.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Deserves a standing ovation
Comment: Katie Hafner has woven a wonderfully engrossing and engaging story from real life. She makes it seem as if the fates set the lives of a great artist, superb artisans and a masterful technician on an inevitable course of music nirvana. If you love any or all aspects of music - composers and their compositions, players, instrument makers and craftspeople- you can't help but be taken in by this gem of a book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: My first book on Glenn Gould: and I enjoyed it!
Comment: This book was my first introduction to Glenn Gould, other than a vague familiarity with the name. Hafner's book made me interested in hearing his recordings, now that I have some insight into the musician as well as the character. I enjoyed it as a story, and as a chance to learn far more about the piano as an instrument. Since my wife is a pianist with a couple of 90+ year-old Steinways, I'm finally getting what's involved in rebuilding one of these.
You don't have to be a Gould aficionado to enjoy this read.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: A different angle on Gould
Comment: I've read at least 5 books on Glenn Gould. I still believe the best biography on Gould came from Otto Friedrich called A life in Variations. I've also read Ostwald's The Ecstacy and Tragedy of Genius, Bazzana's account entitled Wondrous Strange, Andrew Kazdin's Glenn Gould at Work, "Creative Lying", and Rhona Bergman's "The Idea of Gould".
"Romance on Three Legs", takes a different angle in that if focuses primarily on the Piano. I skipped pieces of earlier chapters that had stories in part from the other books and areas that were overused in my opinion since Friedrich published his book. I was more focused on how Gould came to find and treasure CD-318 (Steinway). This is the piano that carried most of his recording career. Hafner does a good job regarding the damage episode that occurred to this Piano and Gould's obsession to get it back to it's former glory which never quite happened. I was most interested in this part of the book as well. Gould sued Steinway years before, due to a worker who allegedly gave him too hard of a handshake. Because of this, Steinway probably gave him lesser than usual service on his behalf. This is also covered.
On the subject of Gould, Hafner does no more than the other authors in my opinion. She covers the same stories, anecdotes. She does cover a bit more on Gould's relationship with a married man's wife, Cornelia Foss. This book is still noteworthy. I'd also recommend "A Life in Variations" and Andrew Kazdin's Book, Glenn Gould at work. Kazdin is brutally honest about the working relationship he had with Gould and also covers an area regarding the damage of CD-318. Hafner does give us much more detail and more account from Verne Edquist, Gould's primary piano tuner and function tweaker. This alone gives the book a bit more credibility in my opinion.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The perfect piano
Comment: Gould, the legend, was psychologically as interesting as his Bach playing. He was obscessive to the point of mania, intelligent to the point of genius, and digitally talented to the point of wonderment His search for the perfect instrument for his elucubrations is a somewhat sad yet a somewhat inspiring saga. That he found #318 and that he lost it all too soon consitutute as much of a saga with its found but lost motif as any pastoral can provide. The author shows enormous knowledge about the mechnical workings of the modern grand piano and the documentation is flawlesss. Interesting also is the dedication and professonalism exhibited by the techncicans involved and that of the Steinway people.
If there is any criticism of the study, one might have hoped for a bit more discusssion of how an instrument with its extremely light touch favored the playing and even shaped the interpretation of Gould's beloved Bach. Gould's much criticized "portamento" or the non-legato style which is so well demonstrated by the differnces in the first and in the last of the Golberg recondings is relatvely ignored. It is a very good book, very interesting, but somehow I felt bereft of the music itself. Perhaps another study from this same author?
Customer Rating:
Summary: deserves the raves
Comment: Like several of the other reviewers, I was skeptical that there was a need for another book about Glenn Gould. Before reading 'A Romance on Three Legs', my impression was that Gould is already well-represented on the printed page. After all, his own prolific words are still in print. As well, there is Kevin Bazzana's articulate, insightful and (seemingly) all-inclusive biography 'The Life and Art of Glenn Gould'(I HIGHLY recommend it). So, I was pleasantly surprised that 'A Romance...' not only presents well-known 'lore' in a pleasing fashion; but goes far beyond. It added nuance to my understanding of Gould's life and revealed much about the artistry (and consumerism) of the piano and recording industries. The book is studded with amusing, concise and penetrating biographies of craftsmen, technicians & scions of industry. If you have only a cursory interest in Glenn Gould, or, if you already have encyclopedic knowledge about him, either way, you will find much to enjoy in this very readable book.
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