narrated by Annabel Mullion
with Simon Callow
A Stradivarius violin, for sure, is special, but even rarer and perhaps even more special is a Guarneri, made by a younger contemporary of Stradivari’s in the Cremona region of Italy during the early 18th century. In this entertaining and soulful mystery, a teenage prodigy is set to play at Lincoln Center in the early 1990s. Her instrument: a Guarneri once owned by an Irish musician named Robert Flynn. Her choice of music: the first violin concerto by Ernest Grayson, a famed British composer whose early works were performed by Flynn himself. The star’s turn is marred by the murder backstage of a cellist who also happens to be her best friend. The investigation that follows is twisty and engrossing, helped along immeasurably by an academic detective named Dr. Lucy Wunder, who may or may not be inspired by the author’s real-life daughter, the founder of Nucleo, which is based in London and is dedicated to helping children discover themselves through music. Two of Nucleo’s students play on this audiobook, along with João Barata, with music composed by Edmund Jolliffe. No spoilers on who the murderer is, but we will reveal that both the story and the music are killers.
Joe Papp died more than 30 years ago, but it is a testament to his brilliance as a producer and director that the two New York institutions he founded, Shakespeare in the Park and the Public Theater, still seem to belong to him despite the wonderful work his successors have accomplished. And you need never have heard of Papp to be touched by his influence, since it was under his patronage that Hair and A Chorus Line first came into being. The author, who worked for Papp and married him, in 1976, was an astute observer of her husband’s passions, not just the love he felt for his family (a very big category that included pretty much anyone he liked, especially actors) but the contempt he reserved for others (certain politicians, drama critics, and real-estate developers). She tells of her own upbringing and how she met and fell in love and into life with Papp, all the while producing her own projects, notably Larry Kramer’s A Normal Heart and the Rupert Holmes musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood. This book is a joyous celebration of a man and his era that leaves you yearning for his return but also thankful for the fact that he existed at all.
We love maps here at Air Mail, but we especially love globes, which, of course, are the best maps of the world since there is no distortion in size. They are round, like the Earth, and thus they give everything its rightful place. (Take that, Greenland, the looming mass on all flat maps.) The author, always fascinated by globes, wanted to buy one for his father on his 80th birthday, but all he could find were cheap models or expensive antiques. Thus inspired, he started his own company, making globes by hand, and this enthralling book not only navigates that quest but details the history of globe production and offers delightful digressions, such as the author’s search for Winston Churchill’s globe, which weighed more than 750 pounds and was a duplicate of one owned by F.D.R., both gifts from the U.S. Army during World War II. Bellerby & Co. Globemakers has 25 employees and makes more than 600 globes of various types every year for customers worldwide. They even personalize their spheres, painting for one customer a few small biplanes piloted by his dogs, complete with flying scarves. If you can’t afford a Bellerby globe or are too impatient to be on the waiting list, then by all means buy this book, the most worldly of reading pleasures.
The Flynn Guarneri is available for download on the Barnes & Noble Web site. Public/Private and The Globemakers will be available at your local independent bookstore, on Bookshop, and on Amazon beginning October 17
