Publisher, Blackstone Audiobooks (May 2008)

NOTE: RETAIL EDITIONS are packaged in attractive, compact cardboard, jewel-case or DVD shrink-wrapped boxes, with full-color art.

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“With self-effacing humor, fast-paced yet elegant prose and unsparing honesty, Lopez tells an inspiring story of heartbreak and hope.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

When journalist Steve Lopez sees Nathaniel Ayers playing his heart out on a two-string violin on Los Angeles’s skid row, he finds it impossible to walk away. More than thirty years ago, Ayers was a promising classical bass student at Juilliard — ambitious, charming, and also one of the few African-Americans — until he gradually lost his ability to function, overcome by schizophrenia. Over time, the two men form a bond and Lopez imagines that he might be able to change Ayers’s life. The Soloist is a beautifully told story of devotion in the face of seemingly unbeatable challenges.

About the Author: STEVE LOPEZ is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, where he first wrote a series of columns about Nathaniel Ayers. The father of three children, he currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife Alison and their daughter, Caroline.