"High Fidelity meets Touching the Void in the improbably heroic adventure of an amateur French horn player who quite literally blows himself back to life again. The middle-aged man's rueful riposte to all that self-deluding, chirpy chick-lit tripe, it is very very good, very very funny, and horribly true." - Bob Geldof
"The strength and reach of Rees's enthusiasm carry the day. . . . A fine book." - Daily Telegraph (London)
"A marvellous memoir of a year's obsession that should be read by anyone gripped by illogical compulsion." - The Economist
"An appealing book, both for musicians and for those who abandoned music long ago after childhood battles with an instrument. . . . [A] humorous paean to a humble bit of brass." - Financial Times (London)
"Rees is both a buoyant and impassioned writer. His language is fleet, efficient and full of detail. His horn fixation animates even a casual trip to the movies. . . . The scene of him standing onstage with the very horn he had played as a child gives off a gratifying, burnished glow." - San Francisco Chronicle
"Reese records his journey with impeccable research and sharp wit, weaving together his first lessons as a youth with those of adulthood, all the while reliving the horn's along history in a musical and literary achievement." - Craig Brown, Booklist (starred review)

Publisher: Harper Perennial

Pub date: 2009-12-08

Length: 336 pages