Book of the day: A Romance on Three Legs

Does the title remind you of "The Romance of the Three Kingdom"? Well, it's a complete different topic. See sub-title: Glenn Gould's Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Piano

You might wonder how interesting a book could be if it is all about a particular piano. I am with you since I quit reading a somewhat similar book ("A Devil to Play," in which the author covered his personal experiences learning French horn, interspersed with history of the instrument. It would have made a good blog post but I think he drags on too much about the former. And his writing styles, which tends to jump around a lot, did not help.)

I have skimmed through this book at the bookstore and found it really interesting. The first chapter is your typical musician (Glenn Gould's) biography: what kind of genius and how weird he was. It gets more interesting starting the 2nd chapter, which is about the blind piano tuner Charles Verne Edquist, who worked with Gould on his "Perfect Piano." This piano was actually one that has been owned by the Eaton Department store in Toronto for a long time and played by many. Eaton was about to return it to Steinway and exchange for another one! I definitely want to find out more.