false 599441 7 <B>The Prix Goncourt winner brings Dante to today's Paris.</B> <P>Max Delmarc, age 50, is a famous concert pianist with two problems: the first is a paralyzing stage fright for which the second, alcohol, is the only treatment. In this unparalleled comedy from the Prix Concourt-winning French novelist Jean Echenoz, we journey with Max, from the trials of his everyday life, through his untimely death, and on into the afterlife. <P>After a brief stay in purgatory&#151;part luxury hotel, part minimum security prison, under the supervision of deceased celebrities&#151;Max is cast into an alarmingly familiar partition of hell, "the urban zone," a dark and cloudy city much like his native Paris on an eternally bad day. Unable to play his beloved piano or stomach his needed drink, Max engages in a hapless struggle to piece his former life back together while searching in vain for the woman he once loved. <P>An acclaimed bestseller with 50,000 copies sold in France, <I>Piano</I> is a sly, sardonic evocation of Dante and Sartre for the present day, the playful, daring masterpiece of a novelist at the top of his form. 586062 2002 Piano total:42|5:13|4:9|3:17|2:2|1:1| 42 157 66 5 3 0 false false Mon Oct 12 11:36:59 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 11:43:43 -0700 2009
the benevolent (??) afterlife bureaucracy /
focus on the lack of parity between different lived lives /
playfulness that leads characters to live beyond their stated positions

so I was kind of disappointed by the ending, whi...more...]]> 0 0 false false Mon Aug 27 06:30:30 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 27 06:30:30 -0700 2007
First half sets up interesting enough character, second half leaves all that behind and we are in the AFTERLIFE in a LONG HALLWAY with DOORS ON EITHER SIDE. This is Freshman level crap, I mean high school freshman, by the way.

I hated this book. ]]> 3 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Wed May 23 15:49:20 -0700 2007 Wed May 23 15:50:52 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Jun 18 11:16:12 -0700 2007 Tue Jun 19 12:34:43 -0700 2007 3 0 false false Sat Mar 31 00:46:31 -0700 2007 Sat Mar 31 00:47:42 -0700 2007 0 0 false false Thu Oct 22 02:00:07 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 22 02:00:07 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat Oct 10 10:32:09 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 10 10:32:09 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Fri Oct 09 17:41:11 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 09 18:45:39 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Sep 26 00:58:27 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 26 00:58:27 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sun Sep 13 14:23:04 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 29 14:38:49 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 13 14:23:04 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Mon Aug 24 07:19:34 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 25 09:18:08 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Wed Aug 19 17:49:31 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 17:49:31 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Aug 01 08:52:38 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 01 08:53:12 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Jul 25 15:33:49 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 25 15:35:27 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Tue Jul 07 19:58:51 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 19:58:51 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Jun 15 06:56:49 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 15 06:56:49 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun May 17 22:51:09 -0700 2009 Sun May 17 22:51:09 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed May 06 12:07:41 -0700 2009 Thu May 07 06:32:42 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri Apr 17 13:34:20 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 17 13:34:20 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Apr 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 15 00:27:38 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 18 10:21:01 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=599441