I picked this up out of interest having been learning the piano (recently did my grade 4 in piano) and also due to my general interest in music.
This is a real gem. It documents the author’s year or more learning the notoriously difficult Chopin’s ballade no 1, all while he acts as editor of the Guardian during a very busy news year (what year isn’t I suppose). It is both a brilliant memoir and behind the scenes look at the life of a newspaper editor and a fantastic exploration of music and the amateur’s role within music as a whole. Brilliantly written as you would expect, it is one that I didn’t was a little sad when it ended and could happily have read on and on. Perhaps only for those with an interest in piano so it is a little niche but I absolutely loved it.