The Soloist

.Hardcover. First Edition. First Printing. 284 pages. The author's second novel. "The difficulties encountered by talented children are dispassionately chronicled in this unusual story about a musical prodigy who as an adult must come to terms with his own mediocrity. When Reinhart Sundheimer's prodigious talent as a world-renowned cellist suddenly and inexplicably deserts him at age 18, he is bereft for he knows no other life than that of the concert stage and is accustomed to adulation. As a college professor who has never learned social skills, he is aloof from his colleagues and spends his spare time practicing in the vain hope that his genius will return. Then, in one event-filled week, the outside world invades his insular environment. First, he is called to jury duty and second, he agrees to give cello lessons to a 12-year-old prodigy. Interacting with other jurors during deliberations on a brutal murder case and reacting to the unpredictability of his student require emotional resources that he never knew he possessed. Both experiences result in personal insight that allows him to accept his limitations as a musician and gives him the courage to broaden his horizons as a human being" (Publisher's). ISBN 0394570103.