{"product_id":"9780547729015","title":"Body \u0026 Soul: A Novel","description":"\u003cb\u003eThis saga of a son of the working class who grows into a piano prodigy is “hypnotically readable . . . The best story I know of in a long, long time” (\u003ci\u003eVanity Fair\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e As a boy, Claude Rawlings looks up through the grated window of his basement apartment to watch the world go by. Poor, lonely, supported by a taxi-driver mother whose eccentricities spin more and more out of control, he faces the terrible task of growing up on the margins of life, destined to be a spectator of that great world always hurrying out of reach. But there is an out-of-tune piano in the small apartment, and in unlocking the secrets of its keys, as if by magic, Claude discovers himself. He is a musical prodigy.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBody \u0026amp; Soul\u003c\/i\u003e is the story of a young man whose life is transformed by a gift. The gift is not without price—the work is relentless, the teachers exacting—but the reward is a journey that takes him to the drawing rooms of the rich and powerful, private schools, a gilt-edged marriage, and Carnegie Hall. Claude moves through this life as if he were playing a difficult composition, swept up in its drama and tension, surprised by its grace notes. Music, here, becomes a character in its own right, equaled in strength only by the music of Frank Conroy’s own unmistakable and true voice.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Bristling with character and invention, \u003ci\u003eBody \u0026amp; Soul\u003c\/i\u003e is Dickensian in its range and richness. This is a novel with all the emotional appeal and moral gravity of a classic bildungsroman, but with a tone as contemporary as a jazz riff—an unforgettable achievement by one of the great writers of our time.","brand":"Houghton Mifflin Harcourt","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47123742982384,"sku":"9780547729015","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780547729015_p0.jpg?v=1769896749","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780547729015","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}