Library Notes


Rebecca Hyde
‘How-to” manuals are plentiful. But if you’re a novice or an armchair explorer, then a book describing “how it all came about” may offer both information and motivation. The following books are for people who have dreamed of learning to sing, playing a musical instrument, or creating a garden.

It’s interesting that Renée Fleming (“The Inner Voice”) set about her education as a singer by devouring the autobiographies of predecessors. She wanted practical advice: how did they learn and who taught them; how did they survive auditions and disappointments? She calls her own story the autobiography of a voice: of the story of finding her voice, of working to shape it, and how it, in turn, shaped her. She still studies, and historic recordings are essential in preparing for a new role. Clearly styles have changed among sopranos. Fleming constantly battles with herself over her performance as an actress: simple or layered, histrionic or direct?

In “Piano Lessons,” NPR’s Noah Adams describes his fifty-second year, when he decided to learn to play. From January (“Why does a fifty-one-year-old man decide he has to have a piano?”) to December (“My wife falls in love with a piano player in a tuxedo, and the night is still young,” Adams immerses himself in concert-going, piano-shopping, interviews with pianists, and in choosing his method of study. Along the way he admits the piano listening as been great but his learning curve has collapsed. Piano camp is his salvation, when Adams must play before an audience. Success is exhilarating. As a surprise Christmas present to his wife, he puts on evening dress, lights the candles, and plays.

From the Ground Up” is Amy Stewart’s chronicle of realizing her dream of creating a garden. Almost everything is a first for her: first time dealing with oxalis, with scale and aphids, and tourists sunbathing on the front porch (the house is near the beach in Santa Cruz). She buys composts and then makes it, and provides us with her recipes for worm juice and compost tea. Tomatoes are her greatest challenge, but luckily the biggest chore in August is dealing with all the extra vegetables. The final Chapter deals with leaving a garden you’ve created.