In this searching and funny memoir, renowned pianist Jeremy Denk traces an implausible journey. Life is difficult enough as a precocious, temperamental six-year-old piano prodigy in New Jersey. But then a family meltdown forces a move to New Mexico, far from classical music’s nerve centers, and he has to please a new taskmaster while navigating cacti, and the perils of junior high school. Escaping from New Mexico at last, he meets a bewildering cast of college music teachers, and experiences a series of humiliations and triumphs, to find his way as one of the world’s greatest living pianists.

There are few writers working today who are willing to eloquently explore both the joys and miseries of artistic practice. Hours of repetition, mystifying early advice, pressure from parents and teachers who drove him on – an ongoing battle of talent against boredom and insecurity. As we meet various teachers, with cruel and kind streaks, Denk composes a fraught love letter to teaching. He brings you behind the scenes, to look at what motivates both student and teacher, locked in a psychologically perilous relationship.

In Every Good Boy Does Fine, Denk explores how classical music is relevant to 'real life,' despite its distance in time. He dives into pieces and composers that have shaped him – Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Brahms  – and gives unusual lessons on melody, harmony, and rhythm. Why and how do these fundamental elements have such a visceral effect on us? He tries to sum up many of the lessons he has received, to repay the debt of all his teachers; to remind us that music is our creation, and that we need to keep asking questions about its purpose.