Grand Obsession: A Piano Odyssey

by Perri Knize

A fascinating, lyrical memoir about one woman's obsessive search for the perfect piano-and about finding and pursuing passion at any age How can a particular piano be so seductive that someone would turn her life upside down to answer its call? How does music change human consciousness and transport us to rapture? What makes it beautiful? In this elegantly written and heartfelt account, Perri Knize explores these questions with a music lover's ardor, a poet's inspiration, and a reporter's thirst for knowledge. The daughter of a professional musician, Knize was raised in a home saturated in classical music, but years have passed since she last played the instrument that mesmerized her the piano. Surprised by a sudden, belated realization that she is meant to devote her life to the instrument, she finds a teacher and soon decides to buy a piano of her own. What begins as a search for a modestly priced upright leads Knize through dozens of piano stores all over the country, and eventually ends in a New York City showroom where she falls madly in love with the sound of a rare and pricey German grand. "At the touch of the keys, I am swept away by powerful waves of sound," Knize writes. "The middle section is smoky and mysterious, as if rising from the larynx of a great contralto. The treble is bell-like and sparkling, full of color, a shimmering northern lights. A soul seems to reside in the belly of this piano, and it reaches out to touch mine, igniting a spark of desire that quickly catches fire." The seduction is complete. But the piano far exceeds Knize's budget. After a long and painful dalliance, she refinances her house to purchase the instrument that has transfixed her. The dealer ships it to her home in Montana, and she counts the days until its arrival. When at last she sits down to play, almost delirious with anticipation, the magical sound is gone and the tone is dead and dull. Devastated, she calls in one piano technician after another to "fix" it, but no one can. So begins the author's epic quest to restore her piano to its rightful sound, and to understand its elusive power. This journey leads her into an international subculture of piano aficionados -- concert artists, passionate amateurs, dealers, technicians, composers, and builders -- intriguing characters all, whose lives have also been transformed by the spell of a piano. Along the way she plays hundreds of pianos, new and vintage, rare and common, always listening for the bewitching tone she once heard from her own grand, a sound she cannot forget. In New York, she visits the high-strung technician who prepared her piano for the showroom, and learns how a wire tightened just so, or an artfully softened hammer can transform an unremarkable instrument into one that touches listeners to their core. In Germany, she watches the workers who built her piano shape wood, iron, wool, and steel into musical instruments, and learns why each has its own unique voice. In Austria, she hikes the Alps to learn how trees are selected to build pianos, and how they are grown and harvested. With each step of her journey, Knize draws ever-closer to uncovering the reason her piano's sound vanished, how to get it back, and the deeper secret of how music leads us to a direct experience of the nature of reality. Beautifully composed, passionately performed, Grand Obsession is itself a musical masterpiece.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Autobiography

371 pages, Hardcover

First published January 8, 2008

Reviews

[pianogal · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most appropriate part of this book was it's title. The author is definately obsessed when it comes to her piano - and I don't really understand why.

I am a classically-trained pseudo-concert pianist. I say pseudo because while I play all the time, I only perform a couple of times a month. My undergraduate degree is in piano performance and I studied at Indiana University's renowned School of Music, so I understand the importance of finding that perfect piano. When I went looking for mine (a Yamaha C2 in matte black) I played a lot of pianos. Not as many as the author of this book, but then I didn't have the funds to travel to various cities nor could I afford to ship pianos back from them.

I found my Yamaha by touch more than sound. Having studied at a university, I played my share of questionable pianos. My biggest qualm was not so much the tone, but the touch. Most of the actions in practice room pianos are horrendous. So when I sat down to play my piano in the show room, I immediately knew it was the one I wanted. I went back to play it several times before I bought it, making sure it really was the one for me. The thought of letting anyone rip out its guts to try and capture that fleeting feeling doesn't make any sense to me.

The author of this book is a self-proclaimed amateur who heard her piano once in a store and then tried for three years to recapture that sound when it failed to arrive at her house in Montana in perfect condition - even though it had been shipped from New York in the middle of the coldest blizzard ever. She also failed to realize that her house was in no way atmospherically perfect for her piano to always sound great (mine's not either, but I live with it). Her quest was insane.

I thought the beginning of this book was interesting - how she decided which stores to shop in, what models she liked, what kind of sound she was looking for. About halfway in, though, I got very tired of her whining about how her piano wasn't just perfect all the time. I almost didn't finish the book. Even the fact that she travelled a lot to try and recapture her piano's so-called lost color and eventually found a close proximation didn't change my position. If I'dve been any of the myriad of technicians she employed to work on it, I'dve just told her she was crazy and left. And I thought I was obsessed with my piano. This book and this author give a whole new meaning to the term.

[Bree (AnotherLookBook) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as part of my own "grand obsession": an 1869 Chickering square grand I have begun to restore. In Knize I was hoping to find affirmation that I could be a whole lot more crazy. And, it turns out, I could be! My favorite parts of this book were undoubtedly the technical parts--which is funny, because that would probably be the dullest sections for most other readers. She did kind of lose me when she spent a few chapters explaining the "sympathetic vibration" aspect of music and instruments. But this was just because I took a course on this in college, so it was all old news, just more clunkily explained.

Oddly enough, while reading this section, I kept thinking, dang, she should talk to my professor from college, Milford Graves, because he's all about this kind of stuff...And then I turned the page, and guess who she interviewed! That very same professor. So that was fun.

I have some minor critiques of the book--her characterizations of others; her glossing over the monetary aspect of her all-consuming piano quest; her weird lack of mentioning her husband for so long in the book, I assumed she was single. Overall, though, a very satisfying read. More often than not, I could not manage to put it down.

But then again, I'm a piano nerd.

[Will Ansbacher · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is about one woman's piano story and I thought it might be interesting to you, that's why I persevered. But really I am getting more and more annoyed with it.

Apparently it is highly regarded, but this person comes across as clinically obsessive about the pursuit of the perfect sound. She is an amateur who actually can't play that well although she has an unusually sensitive ear. That could have (I'd hoped) formed the basis for an interesting read. However she has a tin ear when it comes to what's interesting to a reader. It's narcissistic and self-absorbed and profoundly lacking in insight although she goes on interminably. I don't care what's in her head! (It's as if I said I hear and create symphonies in my mind ....I suppose you might care because you're my friend, but the rest of the world doesn't if they can never hear the music!). She travels all over the US first trying find the perfect piano, even though she can't afford a grand, but eventually giving in to her need to have one. Then it's all over the country again trying to get piano tuners and voicers (who sound like a bunch of charlatans) to "fix" her piano, back to what she remembers it sounded like in the showroom, but now it sounds flat and dead. Obviously there are (possibly minute) differences us mere mortals might not really hear but send her into the depths of despair.

But the book really takes a dive when, to find out why this is unattainable, she is turned on to the physics of super-string theory, quantum mechanics and crystal healing (all mixed up just like that). Like many people she confuses hearing the words "string theory" with thinking she understands what they mean. "Everything is connected, we are all vibrations" - it sounds more like mania or psychosis than a synthesis to me. She can't even explain the harmonic scale, never mind quantum theory! This would have been at least mildly interesting if she'd succeeded because the "sound" she was searching for might well have been in the subtle difference between harmonic and equal-tempered tuning. (I've always wondered what the perfect tuning would sound like; I don't think I've ever heard it, have you?)

Another day. Well, I finished it! After the discourse on physics there was a complete change of style when she made a pilgrimage to Germany to see how her piano was made. It turned into a pedestrian travelogue or reportage that could have been about any industrial process ... completely devoid of any insight into what made her "Grotrian" brand toaster (sorry, piano) so much superior to the mass-produced Korean product, although she did provide an unnecessarily-detailed pedigree of "her" piano.
She ended the book relating how she finally got it tuned to perfection, sending her into paroxysms of rapture. So in the end, that's all it was ... her piano was out of tune. I would have been interested to know whether she would have been as happy with a cheap upright with the same tuning. Probably not, as she would not have been able to blow tens of thousands of $$ to feed her neuroses.

There, I'm done! I feel better already.

[My dear friend Rosalind died this week. We often wrote about books; this is from an email I sent her, before we knew about goodreads and some years before she fell ill.]

[Sarah Parr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so interesting. Everything that goes into building a high quality grand piano is mind blowing. This is a true story where the author is searching to understand the whole meaning of how certain sounds in music could affect her so much. Looking for answers, she talks to many different people and researches science and other topics, but unfortunately, never understands that God is the one who made music that affects us so, even though her findings keep pointing to that. Still, it was incredibly interesting to me to see all the things she uncovered about music and building instruments.

[John Valesano · Rating 3 out of 5]

An obsessive quest to find the author's perfect piano and an equally obsessive search to restore its sound to that which the author fell in love with.

Parts of the book were very interesting, but other parts were just ridiculous. The sections on piano tuning, constuction, voicing, and history were well done. I particularly liked the introduction and the chapters at the Grotian factory in Germany. Also the history of the creation of the Steinway brand was informative. I like the tuner's statement that a good tuning is just a series of little lies.

Thanks mom for teaching me piano and giving me an appreciation of music. I may not have an obsession with my piano, but I do enjoy it immensely and find it a great stress reliever.

[Natsu · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading the synopsis, I knew that I had to read this book. As a piano lover that bought my own instrument recently, I was hoping to get a glimpse of someone else that went through a similar painstaking effort to acquire the piano they’ve been dreaming of.

The author’s passionate quest for her dream piano and the zealous energy to restore the sound she lost on the beloved instrument later on in the story were generally very interesting, and I was able to empathize with her to a certain extent.

But as I read on, I began to sense a hint of condescension in her words; like how she was trained from a young age and developed a good ear but nobody can hear what she hears, therefore nobody can help her fix her piano.

From then on, I just couldn’t tolerate her words and actions. I even felt a bit sorry for all the piano experts that had gotten involved with a customer like her that would just disrespectfully thrust vehement complaints at them, without thinking twice that she may be in the wrong.

The works of voicers and piano makers at the factory were very intriguing, but it was difficult to visualize what was actually going on, especially with passages involving the technology of the piano. Photographs and/or diagrams would have been helpful to fully understand the processes.

I can imagine and tell from her writing how difficult it was to describe a sound, and more so to convey it to others. The author bravely tackled this task, and I would like to applaud that. But her obsessive behavior and constant nagging to others to get what she wanted was a little too overwhelming, and I couldn’t put that negative feeling aside until the very end. Her adventure was definitely interesting on the whole, but the tone she put to it was just unbearable.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some parts were fascinating, especially the finding of only very special trees for pianos, especially for Grands that need to bend yet withstand much pressure.
Also the making of pianos, German & others. I had no idea how much was done by hand. The fact of physics being so important in tuning. I knew about the additional " notes" because years ago I had clipped out an article of a man who actually had made a piano with those extra notes. Of course it didn't become popular. I just wanted to show my pupils of the possibilities. I also knew the voicing made for a mellow or bell like sound. And the action of my piano makes playing so clear, & enables playing Allegro motto e con brio & yet is easy on my hands. My tuner said I had the renner action like mentioned in the book. My most recent piano is a German make, Seiler. Yes I did try many pianos, but this one had that clear bell like sound as well as the other features previously mentioned. The price held me back, & eventually when it went on sale I bought it!
I think she spent much time chasing windmills &I bothering so many people, who were still helpful &a patient. And yet even she had to admit only a short time could she get the elusive perfection she so wanted! Those were the parts I didn't enjoy!

[Natalie (CuriousReader)]

Perri Knize takes us through a long journey through the world of pianos, that lasts for many years. She starts off with the desire for the perfect instrument - perfect for her, a sound that will make her soul soar. And she founds one, some years clocked in. But the sound that makes her spend good money on a wooden magical box soon disappears - why? And how to restore it to the piano she fell in love with? She goes knee-deep into the mesmerizing and at times frustrating spheres of piano technology, meeting voicers and tuners, piano builders and wood workers, until she at last comes to some discoveries both on her connection to a certain sound, our connections as human beings to (piano) music, and the inevitably ever-changing sound of a grand instrument.

Perri Knize talks to all kinds of people working with the piano, from sellers to builders, as I say - many people whose livelihood is connected to the instrument. She talks and makes friends with piano affeciandos of many kinds, lovers of the sound and players of the piano from the amateur levels to the professional. Her book starts off with talking about wood, what makes the outer layer of a piano that we all see. The further she looks - the further into the book we get - the deeper into the box we're taken. If you've never seen an inside of the piano, you will wonder at all of the pieces that makes up the sound you hear. So many intricate details shape the sound coming out, the sound we fall in love with.

After reaching the innermost parts of the piano, she ends up at a sort of core - she questions the physics and astrophysics and almost spiritual sense of humanity's response to music, she talks of vibrations and what it is we are actually feeling when we're moved to tears by a song, or have an inexplicable attachment to one certain sound like she has had. Of course, it's not everyone's experience to be so attached to a very specific sound - or instrument - which is part of her discussion, and why she is so obsessed. But I think many music lovers can relate to the feeling of being moved to the core by a certain song, musician, instrument, vibration, without being able to explain why. That's kind of what music does. Her discussion about the physics of piano, then lead back to the wood. In that sense, the book takes an interesting form in the narrative going from the outside in, and then finally ending up on the outside again. The last two or so chapters deal with her own piano again, to round a long story off.

The parts I liked best dealt with the wood, and the physics. I think part of the reason is that it's more grounded in things I know and can see, but also they just generally fascinate me. I loved seeing the piano's guts too, but she goes into quite a bit of detail - as someone who is not that accustomed to the instrument from an anatomical point, it was a struggle to keep up, much less keep the attention through her outdrawn discussions on every piece. I'm sure someone who works within the field or who is a professional piano player would find these parts more engaging, but even an amateur like myself for the most part found the book to contain many interesting facts, both about the history of piano making and about our connection to music on a grander scale (!).

All in all, a fun book to read and to learn from, but I know where I'm going next - physics is the subject that intrigues me most, the questions she raises in the last third of the book are the things that stuck with me the most. What is it actually we are experiencing when we listen to music? That's the question I'm out to find answers for.

[Sue Dounim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: my 5-star rating does not mean that I'm recommending everyone read this book. It just means that FOR ME it was a 5 star book.

The author was brought up in a musical household, her father was a concert cellist, and even though her life and career went in another direction, she loved music, and primarily classical music, passionately. At age 43, while listening to Artur Rubenstein performing Chopin, she was basically struck with a lightning bolt of realization:

"This is all that I want to do with my life." These words arose as if from nowhere in my mind, astonishing me. "This is all that I want to do with my life." They hit with the force of an inner directive that cannot be questioned.

Right away you can see that this is not for everyone. Who can honestly say they've had this sort of epiphany, at any time in their life?

The journey that this led her on was, to me, fascinating, intense, and a little crazy, and I was pretty riveted through the whole book. In order to fulfill her dream, of course she needed to get a piano. Although her and her husband had decent jobs, they lived in Missoula, Montana; not the place where you'd expect to find a fine concert piano.

She was lucky to find good teachers in her area and started lessons. At the beginning she set herself a budget of $3000 for a nice upright piano. She played those available nearby, and flew to Seattle to get a wider range. Having had lessons as a child she was able to play well enough to be able to compare the sound and touch of pianos. But she quickly found that in that price range she couldn't achieve the tone she heard in her head.

After playing literally hundreds of pianos--and increasing her budget to $8000 and even more--there was a chance encounter at a piano store in New York that led to a moment of incredible exaltation--she found THE ONE THAT HAD THE MAGIC SUBLIME SOUND.

After a lot of stress and doubt, she finally made the deal, and then had the instrument shipped to her home in Missoula, Montana. But when it's in place, she sits down to play it and the tone is completely dead! The magic sound was utterly absent and she appears to be stuck with a pathetic, mediocre instrument.

This starts an odyssey through agonizing whether to try to return it, and going through all the tuners and technicians in Montana, and then further afield, to try to recapture the instrument's original sound. Nothing seems to work, and for three years (!!) she tries every solution imaginable. Finally, she actually travels to the German factory that made her instrument, and even to the village in the mountains where the special trees are cut to supply the wood for the world's finest pianos.

At points, you start to doubt the mental stability of the author-- and she does as well. Was the original sound a phantom that she just imagined? The elite tuners and technicians cannot agree on a solution and come up with techniques that sound like voodoo to attempt to solve her problem. She finally forms what appears to be a folie a deux with the technician who tuned and voiced the piano at the original retailer.

Finally, with consultation of experts and the factory's own craftsmen, a solution is found that appears to work. At the end of the book, the piano appears to have regained the magic that she originally heard. Is it just imagination on her part? I'm not going to say more, since at this point you know whether you're going to want to read the book, or not.

I think a part of the book that put off many readers, is the exploration with several instrument builders and musicians about what you might call the occult or esoteric meaning of music and vibrations to the human being. This could certainly be judged pseudoscience, but there are still many tuners who tune by ear -- or spiritually if you want to call it that -- even though from a scientific point of view you can do a perfect tuning with advanced electronic tuning aids.

The issue here is that tuning a piano is already, as one character in the book puts it, "a bunch of little lies that add up to a truth." This is because except for the perfect intervals, all the other notes are tuned to compromises so that a C (for instance) in each octave is consonant with C in every other; moreover, a C minor chord, let's say, is harmonious with other related chords even though notes bearing no exact fractional relation are part of them. Those of you who know about intonation and the theory of intervals will understand this.

A short note about my own experience. I took piano lessons 40 years ago and owned a nice Kurtzmann upright to play one. For the last 25 years I've done all my music production using computers and guitars, due to my living situation. About 4 years ago, I was talking with my neighbor across the street, whose elderly mother, who he lived with, passed away. He was cleaning out their house preparing to move to another state. He remarked off hand that "all I need to do now is finally get rid of her old piano." It turned out his mother had a 1969 Yamaha G1 baby grand that she hadn't played for 20 years. I bought it from him, moved it to my house, got it tuned, and started lessons again. Unfortunately my house is too small for that beautiful instrument, and my spouse was going crazy listening to the same 4 bars being played 100 times in a row.

With regret, I found a wonderful buyer who came to play it and loved it. I sold it to her and she is playing and caring for it in her house in Orange county, Calif.

I spent all the money on a top end digital piano I can play with headphones, and really love its sound and touch. In a way, what I've done is the exact opposite of what Ms Knize has done: the Yamaha CP88 I bought will sound and feel exactly like every other one in the world. I will never need to tune or voice it, and it will never sound different due to humidity or hammer or action wear. For my needs (and beginner skill level), all those worries don't exist for me...

I'm hopefully going to expand this, since there's a lot more to say and many readers (as you'll see from other reviews) had a totally different experience of the book (including boredom and intense irritation and annoyance.)

[Jaclyn Knight · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title & subtitle of this book are dead on when understood at a level of passion that is almost Homer’s Odyssey-like. This book will wear you out! If you do not have a level of perfectionism in you - don’t even try to read it. But... if you do, you will resonate with parts of the authors journey to find her piano’s voice & you will learn about the world of the piano, music, and emotion. The author has a decided gift for describing the word she sees & hears.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Obsession is an understatement. The author decides to take up piano in her forties. She lives in Montana but shops for a piano wherever she goes in her work. She finally finds one in New York City, buys it, has it shipped to Missoula, then doesn't like the way it sounds. It's not the piano she "fell in love with." So she spends years (at least three) meeting with piano technicians, voicers, tuners and builders (actually making a trip to Germany to see where her piano was built, where the wood for the soundboard came from, etc.), and finally finds a solution that restores (pretty much) the piano's beautiful tone. I thought I would enjoy this since I also recently bought a piano, but ENOUGH ALREADY. I can't even remember how many chapters she devoted to the different types of hammers and how they can be voiced. And the chapters on anthroposophism and physics and metaphysics were way, way too deep. I did learn a lot about pianos, but it was way more than I ever wanted or needed to know. And I still like my cheap baby grand made in Indonesia (the author would have a heart attack if she heard the tone on my baby grand).

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a ride. Yes, the story is long-winded and could have been cut in half, but I loved it and I wouldn't have wanted it to be shorter. This book is definitely not for everyone, it requires both dedication and a love of the piano (or possibly any instrument, but definitely would help if you wanted to learn about the piano). I learned things about the piano that I never knew I wanted to know. The author thinks very highly of her "perfect ear" and loves the compliments she receives about it from others - that got a bit annoying at times. My favorite chapters were all near the end- "The Anthroposophist", "The Revelation", "Physics and Metaphysics".
I started playing the piano because of Edgar Cayce's thoughts on music and spirituality (he said that music should be a part of each soul's development)- so I'm a sucker for anything that talks about those two topics together.
I would take off 1 star for the her rambling and ego, but it was such a unique book that I'm giving it 5.

[Mystic Miraflores · Rating 4 out of 5]

My brother suggested that I read this book. He has a Yamaha baby grand. I thought the story was interesting and the lady a bit crazy. Then I passed it to my husband who has a Baldwin baby grand. He said that the woman was really crazy to do so much to get that perfect sound. Well, guess what, my husband has had the technician come to the house many times and has had all the hammers replaced. I am afraid to ask him how much all of that work and materials have cost over the past 2-3 years. Now he is finally happy with the way his piano sounds. It's like calling the kettle black!

[Chrishna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved reading this book! The author had always wanted to take piano lessons as a child and she does so as an adult. She then goes on a search for a piano for her home and she learns, and teaches the reader, so many things about the art of piano making, the art of listening to music and the importance of music in one's life. I saw her at a reading at Portland Pianos and it was delightful to listen to her speak, play the piano and give advice. And if you email her, she'll email back!

[Ján · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read about how pianos are made and maintained. The writer might feel too obnoxious to some readers I think, but hey, it's a book about obsession, she's just looking for ways to restore the tone of her piano as it was when she fell in love with it. The esoteric chapter was a bit too much for me (but it still made me seek out La Monte Young's work), but other than that, a great read for anyone who loves pianos.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this incredible, epic story for over four months off and on. This book is really a love letter to the piano — in all the art of how pianos are created, maintained, and brought to life by those who both play and care for them. I have found it really fascinating, as through my work, I have learned an incredible amount about what makes pianos work in the way that they do and what makes for a good piano.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the role of the piano in the world of music, and this book treats the pianos mentioned, with one particular piano (owned by the author) being the main focus, as characters unto their own.

The author truly is obsessed with her piano, as noted by the title, but that is what makes for the journey of the story. I think most musicians will immediately understand the amount of passion one has for one’s instrument and connect with this element.

I will say the one thing I’m sitting here amused by right after finishing the book is that the author seems to be so enwrapped in her own story that I do not recall her mentioning her husband more than once or twice in the book. (And she also finds herself traveling numerous times in her journey to connect with other piano experts and enthusiasts— but he is never with her.) Hmm, ok!

Anyways — I found many of the details insightful and fascinating. Despite starting and stopping my reading numerous times, it was never hard to pick up again and I was continually enlightened. Furthermore, I was particularly moved by this passage, which is actually a Sufi fable about how music operates in the world. I share it with you here:

"Before the human soul incarnated, God was trying to get the soul to go into the human body. But the soul didn't want to go into the body because the soul was in this infinite realm of joy and bliss beyond limitation. Why would it want to go into this human form where it would experience disease and be limited in time and space? So the only way God could get the soul to incarnate was to get the angels to play music. And the soul was so intoxicated by the music that it wanted to hear the music better. And it could only hear the music better by listening with the ears of the human body. And so that's how God tricked the soul into incarnating into a human form."

[Rich Weber · Rating 1 out of 5]

Grand Obsession?
This book should have been titled "Self Obsession."

This book is a self-indulgent romp through the author's narcissism as she regales us with her superior musical savvy. She lauds her superhuman aural sensitivity, far exceeding the abilities of countless tuners and voicers whom she torments in her quest for the "perfect sound." We get a slight reprieve in the last portion, when she travels to Germany to see where her piano was made. I found myself on the verge of enjoying this book when she toned down the emphasis on herself and allowed her readers to glimpse the artisans at the Grotrian factory and the complex process of crafting a piano. But, alas, the image of a self-absorbed sycophant quickly reclaims center stage in the final chapters, where she appears to deride the very individuals who have endured her demands throughout the ordeal.

The writing is masterful, the subject is fascinating. I wanted to love this book. But I found myself asking if the author is obsessed with the perfect sound, or with herself. In dialogue with others, she speaks humbly of her playing, referring to herself as an amateur -- and an amateur who doesn't play very well. But in the narrative of her inner monologue, she comes across as a prima donna who can barely tolerate the incompetence of those who tirelessly try to help her.

The final straw for me came when Carl Demler, the man who sold her "Marlene" (yes, she named her piano after Marlene Dietrich... and why not?) has stopped returning her calls. Carl's herculean efforts to appease his most difficult customer have been unsuccessful -- he has recommended voicers, offered to exchange the piano for one more to her liking, and even offered to have the hammers replaced altogether. But when he doesn't return her calls, her frustration grows. The reader can't help wonder if Carl's had enough and simply bailed out -- but we learn that his mother has passed away, and the loss has been excruciatingly difficult for him. When she finally connects with a despondent Carl, she expresses her condolences... but immediately asks, "Where are my hammers?"

If Adrian Monk bought a piano...

[Annab · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book! It was a pleasure to read, Perri is an excellent writer! The book is fairly technical for Perri and her team of experts tutor the reader on the making of a piano as well as the tuning of it -- it is helpful to have a diagram of a grand piano with you as you read this book. Like Perri, when looking for the "right" piano, I want a great sounding grand piano! A piano with a warm and mellow full round base and a clear and singing treble! Unlike Perri, I was going to wait until I reached "intermediate" status before making such a purchase. But this book has me thinking twice about giving up my digital Casio keyboard. I already knew that my living room would be a challenge for such an instrument given its 12 large windows facing south (too much heat in the summer, too much cool in the winter) unless I did an serious overall of the A/C in my house and invested in some heavy window coverings -- this book has confirmed my suspicions. But I had no idea regarding the difference between tuning a piano (the sound frequency of each string) and the voicing a piano (how hard/soft the hammers hit the string) and why both are important. This book highlights all the technical pitfalls one can get into when you want a "chocolatey" sound verses "lemony" sound that so many pianos default to. But I believe that Perri is light years beyond my meager capabilities to hear a buzz when you play the A6 key. Also, as a beginner, she was playing some fairly difficult musical pieces (I know, I looked up all the scores she mentioned) -- but who cares, I LOVE THE PIANO and I want a GRAND one! Thank you Perri for sharing your experience -- you have given me lots to think about!

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved approximately half of this book.

Perri decides to take up piano again and in the process sets out to find "her" piano. After playing thousands of pianos from Montana to Seattle to New York, she finally plays the perfect piano in a New York Showroom. However, when the piano arrives in her Montana home it doesn't sound the same.

She becomes obsessed with finding out where her sound went, why the sound touched her so much, and how she can get it back.

I really loved the beginning of her obsession, so much so that it made me want to take up the piano again too. But her obsession went a little too far for me when her journey took a spiritual turn. This spiritual turn involved every spiritual feeling except the existence of God, which bothered me.

But I'm still practicing the piano!

[Leecia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is written by a player who hears in more details than most, feels music deeply in her body, believes music- classical in particular- transformative, and knows that for her the piano is the ultimate instrument for this way of being. Like me. We don't need to be advanced players to know this about ourselvers, or to write a book about the experience. While sharing her experience she introduces us to the world of piano tuning, renovation, and shopping.
There are those in the piano world who have written critiquely of this book, all men the ones that I have read. Could it be that many men do not hear the complexity and richness of sound? Even of a bird song? This is my question not the author's.

Knize is a writer by profession and it shows. I hightly recommend this book to anyone who finds the above topics of interest.

[Sarah Dunmire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Obsession is definitely a keyword in this title to describe the book. It is a memoir of the author’s journey to buy a piano and the obsessive search for the sound of the piano she fell in love with. She talks to an endless number of piano fans, technicians, sellers, builders, and voicers/tuners to get the Grotrian piano sounding in her house like it sounded pre-ship on the showroom floor. It was a strange reading experience for me because I’ve never been that obsessed. It definitely bothers me when a piano is out of tune but the Kawai upright my mom bought has always made me happy. It has the best action, so easy to play, and a warm, reverberant tone. I related to many moments of the memoir but a lot I didn’t relate to.

[JDK1962 · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an "adult beginner" I found a lot of this fascinating. I'm working with a digital piano though, both out of consideration for others living nearby, and for precisely the issues that she agonizes over in this book (i.e., not willing to start down the road of searching for months/years for an instrument I love, then spending way too much money on its acquisition, moving, regulating its environment, paying for maintenance, for the chance of remaining in love).

Especially enjoyed the visit to the piano factory in Germany.

I suppose I was expecting more about learning piano, rather than the deep dive into the instrument itself, and the descent into the rabbit hole of physics, metaphysics, and vibration. But I'm happy for her that she discovered Marlene's secret and got her back.

[R Fontaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learning the piano as an adult may be the ultimate multitask: the tone, phrasing, adjusting touch, feeling the right intervals between notes, reading the score, paying attention to the beat & rhythm, playing 2 or4 parts w/2 hands simultaneously, operating the pedal…. and more.
(seems to have a relationship to elevated math)

After a long search the author buys 'the perfect piano'- a German Grotrian 192-'Marlene'. Alas,during shipping it takes a fall and splinters the keyboard. Thus starts another quest to repair or replace. As she lives in remote Montana both are difficult, costly, & time consuming.
Well titled: an OBSESSION.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A while ago, I was looking for a book that would help me understand some of my own feelings about music, the way particular songs, harmonies, syncopations, timbres will resonate powerfully and draw me in. I read Sacks book on Musicophelia which turned out not to be what I was looking for at all.

Then a friend shared Grand Obsession with me. Though my particular musical obsession is not the same as Knize's, the elements of her journey to connect with playing the piano and find the one that sounds "right", that is compelling, is completely recognizable to me. I'm glad she opened up so honestly and shared her experience with the rest of us.

[David N. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful meditation on the author's obsession (passionate?) with recreating the sound she heard on the piano she played in the showroom when that piano arrived in her living room. In the process we meet some of the most interesting people in the music industry, people who know how to build world class pianos, people who know how to tune and voice pianos, and people who know a lot about harmonics and the physics of sound. I learned a huge amount about all this and loved the author's voice in leading us along with her on her journey. For anyone interested in how to listen to music, a must read.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

At 43, the author decides to return to the piano lessons of her college years. As she advances in skill, she decides to purchase a piano which leads to a lengthy search for THE correct instrument. When she finally finds the one that speaks to her in the showroom, it does not have the same beautiful sound in her home. A journey into piano tone quality ensues with many side trips along the way. As one would expect, there are LOTS of details about piano construction, tuning, voicing, sales, etc.; but there are also interesting insights into the mind of an adult learner. As a bonus, there is a brief reference to a place dear to my heart - Red Fox Music Camp!

[Keith Wheeles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderfully written story of a genuine obsession with finding - and maintaining - the dream acoustic piano. Sobering for someone considering owning an acoustic. The author has a much finer ear than most of us - certainly much finer than my own. The piano as it sounds in the showroom is not necessarily how it will sound over time, with use, shipment, maintenance, humidity and temperature changes - real life stuff. She finds companionship in her passion for music and the piano, and explores the world of piano construction, maintenance and tuning. Good stuff.

[Mallori · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I always thought it would be so cool to learn to play piano. In this book, you get to follow Perri her passion for the piano. I thought it was an interesting way to see how the mind and emotions of musicians and connected to their instruments.

I did find it to be kind of a long book, all she does is shop for pianos, buy a piano, and try to fix a piano. I don't think this book would be for everyone, but if you are at all interested in pianos, it might be worth a read.

I did find it interesting to learn about how much maintenance and upkeep these instruments need.

[Alison Sweetser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grand Obsession is an engaging, beautifully written memoir of the author's love of music and her search for her perfect piano. Along the way, she meets fascinating characters - some quirky, some mystical, and almost all highly accomplished and dedicated to their field, be it playing music, tuning instruments or making them. The breadth and depth of her exploration fascinated me and kept me fully engaged: a good read.

[Rob Griffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was enjoyable and enlightening concerning the ephemeral nature of piano tone and tuning. It's hard to believe the patience which Marc and Carl showed to Perri's obsession. I found this and read it because I want to buy a piano. I learned a lot and will be much easier to satisfy than the author I hope. I'm glad she wrote this and I'm glad she's happy with Marlene again (for now at least).