FFB; THE SOLOIST, Mark Salzman

 

Renee Sundheimer was a cello prodigy who lost his gift at age eighteen. Now he teaches at an university, a man broken by his childhood. A Japanese child comes to him for private lessons and at the same time he is chosen to serve on the jury in a murder trial where a man, possible insane, has killed his zen buddha master. The cat on the cover doesn't make an appearance until the last chapter so readers lured by the idea the cat will figure heavily into the story may be disappointed. But I really enjoyed this book. Written more than twenty years ago now, it is slower and quieter than most novels. I have read one other book by Salzman, LYING AWAKE, about a nun. Also a terrific story. The jury politics play out heavily in this novel. Salzman had written several memoirs about his travels in China, kung fu, and Zen Buddhism. 

Salzman is such a likeable writer. That doesn't always come though but in his case, it does.