Overview

Inspired by the famous composer's notebooks, this biographical novel offers "a perfect portrait of an irascible genius" and "revelatory fossils of the last year of Beethoven's anguished life" (Edmund White)

Deaf as he was, Beethoven had to be addressed in writing, and he was always accompanied by a notebook in which people could scribble questions and comments. In a tour de force fiction invention, Conversations with Beethoven tells the story of the last year of Beethoven's life almost entirely through such notebook entries. Friends, family, students, doctors, and others attend to the volatile Maestro, whose sometimes unpredictable and often very loud replies we infer. A fully fleshed and often very funny portrait of Beethoven emerges. He struggles with his music and with his health; he argues with and insults just about everyone. Most of all, he worries about his wayward--and beloved--nephew Karl.
 
A large cast of Dickensian characters surrounds the great composer at the center of this wonderfully engaging novel, which deepens in the end to make a memorable music of its own.

ISBN-13

9781590177624

ISBN-10

1590177622

Weight

0.68 Pounds

Dimensions

5.01 x 0.67 x 7.99 In

List Price

$16.95

Edition

1st Edition

Format

Paperback

Pages

304 pages

Publisher

NYRB Classics

Published On

2014-09-02



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BooksRun
★★★★☆

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It's a preowned item in good condition and includes all the pages. It may have some general signs ...
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HPB-Diamond
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Magers and Quinn Booksellers
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Minneapolis, MN, USA

May have light shelf wear and/or a remainder mark. Complete. Clean pages. paperback.
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Bonita
★★★★☆

Santa Clarita, CA, USA

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.
$37.63

 Free delivery by: 03 Apr 2026


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