The Secret Life of Glenn Gould: A Genius in Love

by Michael Clarkson

Long after his death, Glenn Gould still lures new listeners to his piano, connecting with them on a haunting, personal level. “He feels and you feel,” says young New York writer Nicole Spectre. “I can feel his pain and joy – it touches me. He speaks directly to me.” But when he was known as the world’s greatest pianist in the 1950s and 1960s, just who was Gould playing for? His audience? Himself? His demanding mother? All are likely true, but he was also richly inspired by – and bared his soul at the keyboard to – a secret society of women, the girlfriends who stirred his hard-to-fetch emotions: Franny Batchen, Verna Sandercock, Cornelia Foss, Roxolana Roslak, and Monica Gaylord. Of the eighteen books and nineteen documentaries by or about the most compelling virtuoso of the twentieth century, none have contained details about Gould’s many love affairs and how they affected his life, his music, and his filmmaking. Until now, biographers have tried to explain what came out of the music box, not the engine that drove it. The vault to his private life has remained locked since his untimely death in 1982 because of his obsessions with privacy and controlling his image, the loyalty of his carefully chosen friends and lovers, and the choice that biographers made to focus safely on his music and eccentricities. The Secret Life of Glenn Gould will be the first true exposé of Gould, who until now has been assumed to be asexual, lonely, and egocentric, by examining his love and soul-mate relationships. His music was twelve-tonal and his documentaries “contrapuntal” – both were filled with overlapping voices – and so was his private life.

Genres: Music

328 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2010

Reviews

[Bruno]

Two stars for effort since Michael Clarkson has undoubtedly put a tremendous amount of work into this book. On the other hand the reader cannot but ponder the necessity of this plunge into the lovelife of the extraordinary and very private musician. I have to concur with Cornelia Foss who is quoted saying "He was so private, he'd roll over in his grave, worrying that someone might find writings with his emotions on them."

So Mr. Gould has been sexually active, and he most likely was not gay or bisexual. There might be room for certain aspects of Gould's private life in a general biography, but I fail to see how this biography --on itself-- adds to our understanding of the remarkable pianist.

[Betty]

The general feeling I had when reading this book was like when you go by a car accident and you can’t help but look, but you feel wrong and ashamed afterwards for doing so. This author (if you can call him that) is like a celebratory gossip magazine level reporter, and how unfortunate are we that he turned his attention to Glenn Gould. What can one expect from the reporter who stalked JD Salinger and told the world where he was living?
Clarkson seems to have uncovered the big secret of Gould's relationship to Cornelia Foss (though apparently many knew about this, so it really wasn't a Big Secret), and he appears desperate for MORE of a scoop. And since this aspect of Glenn’s life was one he guarded so intently, it's so gross that Clarkson insisted on probing it.
His research is also hideously sloppy, which I cannot tolerate when reading about a legend such as Gould. I have read everything there is to read, watched everything there is to watch on Glenn Gould, and Clarkson has written a fiction here. He misquotes people, or takes quotes and stories from various time periods throughout Gould's life and stitches them together to support his desperate quest for The Scoop. It's disgusting and infuriating and if you don't feel this, I highly recommend you read better books on Gould (Bazzana's biography, the Variations book edited by McGreevy, the Glenn Gould Reader) and then come back. I assure you, you will feel disgusted and infuriated.
I wish I could give this book negative stars. I am a librarian and I don't believe in banned books, but if I could gather and burn every single copy of this scam, I would do so with utter delight.

[Larry]

Having read most of the biographies of Gould I was getting a bit frustrated with the ongoing lack of insight into the humanness of this much misunderstood wonder of the classical music world. Finally someone has had the testicles to address the issue of the emotional life of Glenn with such insight and investigations that all previous Biographies will now have to be rewritten! Why has it taken so long for this book to be written? A big thanks for Clarkson from all Gould fanatics!

[Charlotte rose]

This was one of the first books I picked up when I discovered Glenn Gould. Knowing little (at the time) about the person of Gould, I found this book immediately off-putting, screaming of sensationalism and assumptions. If I wasn't newly obsessed, I would never have finished it, but, in a way, I'm glad I did. It should be studied in university courses as a model example of shoddy and speculative "journalism" - "Read this class. Find 25 examples of 'fake news'".

If you count the number of women who actually admitted romantic relationships with Gould, the answer is two, maybe three. The rest of this book is pure conjecture, usually scarcely credible. Is it so unbelievable that Gould had friendships (sometimes just conversations!) with women without being fraught with sexual frustration and tension? Clarkson does not believe it is so, apparently. This book is horrid, I can't believe this author is/was a journalist, facts take a back seat to salacious speculation. Actually, they're not in the back seat, they're not even in the same car. Literally ALL of my further research on Gould, any other documents or interview with him, contradicts the person found in these pages. This includes any further conversations with the women in the book.

This book goes beyond the questionable morality of a "tell all book" and enters the realm of fiction and slander. It deserves a ceremonial burning.

[Lawrence Xie]

Glenn Gould is one of my idols and it was fascinating learning about a different side of him. The funny thing is that Glenn Gould would certainly disapprove of this book sharing such intimate details of his life.

It was pointed out numerous times throughout the book in several interviews, that there was a fundamental conflict between Gould's devotion to music/arts and being in a committed relationship. As anyone familiar with Gould knows, his genius extends beyond the piano and he was an artistic visionary in a number of areas including foreseeing how modern music would be consumed. It is difficult to imagine such an artist open up with others and that was why I was surprised by how many women Glenn frequently called late at night to speak with for hours. I get the strong feeling that Gould felt conflicted between his "puritan" artistic goals and biological/social needs. In a way I think many people feel this since it seems very difficult to see the world from the same perspective and have the same motivations as another.

The book is well researched and it is interesting learning how many people that were close with Glenn are still alive today. For instance his friendship with Anton Kuerti, whom I had the privilege of attending a masterclass and also spoke at my ARCT graduation. The twenty-four chapters span Glenn Gould's entire life to his death and what seems like all his significant friendships. However I feel the book could have focused on the actual music and performance more. For instance why he did he choose such unorthodox tempos? And did he feel strong disappointment at his lackluster compositions? The influence of his life events on his music performance was only briefly touched on in a chapter containing his mother's death. Of course, such music-life analysis likely depends on the strength of the author's musical background.

Lastly I felt a strong connection with this book and Glenn Gould in general since I have been living in Toronto for a few years now. Every time I go to Fran's (a 1 min walk from my apartment) I think of Glenn coming in for his scrambled eggs at 2 AM. And of course his name is everywhere from Glenn Gould studio to the immediate connections with the Royal Conservatory. The book touches on several other places which Gould frequented often. I will likely explore these areas too!

[Sercan Sarıtaş]

Goldberg varyasyonları on uzaya gönderildiği, kendisini oldukça merak ettiğim bu piyanistin aşk hayatı ve kadınlarla olan ilişkilerine bu kadar yakından bakmama gerçekten hiç lüzum yoktu.

[Rob Brethouwer]

Fascinating in every detail.

[Robertmcnair]

Reveals a lot which we would not have expected from this elusive genius.