Playing from Memory

By David Milofsky

Book Overview

Playing From Memory is a deeply moving, compassionate novel about the power of marriage to survive under stress, a love story that tells of a musician's courageous battle against a degenerative illness and his wife's struggle to face the end of their life together.

Ben Seidler, an intense, passionately committed violist, is at the height of his career as a member of the Casa Bella Quartet, one of the foremost string quartets in the nation. His gifts as a concert artist had always been intuitive, but love did not come so easily. It took determination to win the hand of his wife, Dory, who was reluctant to set aside her ambitions of becoming an artist.

Their marriage is at once complex and ordinary, balancing the rigors of long rehearsal sessions against the daily round of family life with their two sons. Then suddenly the rhythm of their lives is shattered when Ben falls victim to multiple sclerosis. Stubbornly independent, Ben refuses to rely on others until necessity forces him to see that there are things beyond his control. Through a new closeness with his aging father, his older son, and, most importantly, Dory, he learns to accept help and to appreciate human frailty and affection.

As Ben's health declines, Dory is forced to resume her career and compete in a world dominated by men, and to re-examine her feelings and commitment to her husband. As their lives change, so does their marriage, and Ben and Dory forge a new kind of love, a fierce love that sustains them through everything.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0870815261
• ISBN13: 9780870815263
• Release Date: April 1999
• Publisher: University Press of Colorado
• Length: 270 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.9" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Music, Marriage and Medicine

I read only a few novels a year carefully chosen I enjoy good ones and Milofsky's kept me engaged all the way. Music, illness, family, hardships dealt with realistically, voices human and distinctive. University town (Madison); string quartet; multiple sclerosis--not met with often in fiction.

read this years ago

and if I could find a copy,would read it again!

Please read this book

What a lovely book.... Milofsky's characters are human and whole. While the reader may not always like the way they behave we cannot deny how real they feel. I sobbed like a baby at the end. I knew what was coming, I just didn't know how and it was touching, sad, and beautiful. Please, support fiction not published by the major crank 'em out houses--buy and read this book.