Rating: 
Summary: A Wonderful Find
Review: My piano teacher recommended that I get this book. I had seen it on Amazon's website, but I didn't feel that I wanted to order it. I am so glad that I did. As others have said-it is an easy read. However, Thad Carhart captures the joy that I , and I'm sure others, have felt regarding pianos,music,composers,music history, and taking piano lessons.If you love playing the piano as much as I do you will enjoy this book. I even put a quote from the book on the back of the recital program for my students. -"I was again struck with how deeply satisfying it was to play any kind of music at all on my piano. Emotionally, physically, intellectually, spiritually; its satisfactions were limitless, its impact on my life profound."
I can't say it any better than that. Lovely book!!
Rating: 
Summary: Largo for non-musicians, Andante for the rest of us
Review: Non-pianists may dismiss Carhart's paean to the piano as excruciatingly slow, but friends of the instrument, whether listeners or players, will find much to enjoy here. There are patches, such as when the piano is moved into Carhart's apartment, where even professional pianists such as myself are moved to cry, "So what?" But for understanding the beauty of lemonwood or ash instruments and for learning the subtleties which distinguished the French instruments (Gaveau, Pleyel) from the German (Steinway, etc.) and the American (Chickering, Mason & Hamlin), this is an unbeatable source. Carhart's odyssey of pianism moves at a gentle andante. Ostensibly it charts his growing familiarity with a Paris atelier run by the capable, enigmatic Luc, filled with old pianos. Carhart maintains the pace by toggling between the real characters and "slice-of-life" anecdotes (all bound by love of pianos), and the many differing aspects of his subject. Along the way, he takes in the history of the piano, piano workings, tuning, and technology - including everything from spruce woods to metal brackets, strings, frames, etc. We are also treated to descriptions of lessons - and piano teachers - from beginning to masterclass level. Carhart vividly communicates the influence of Madame Gaillard, Miss Pemberton, and Anna on his learning abilities and his technique. The differing approaches in the masterclasses with Peter Feuchtwanger and Gyorgy Sebok are of particular interest. Pianists will empathise with Carhart's horror of playing in public, but in sharing this book with us he has laid his musicianship, ability and perceptions on the line. It is full of good descriptions and homespun philosophy, atmospheric and didactic. The courtyards and quaint corners of Paris are lovingly rendered. It is above all a work of appreciation. The hero of the book is the piano.
Rating: 
Summary: Following in a worn out tradition.
Review: One of the longest 242-page books ever published. An advertising executive gives up his job and moves to Paris to become A Writer. He discovers a shop in his quartier which repairs pianos - people who actually still make things with their hands. Quaint or what? (Soon to become a minor television drama.)
Rating:
Summary: Do Re Mi, Mi Re Dozzzzz
Review: Only intermittently interesting, this brief volume seems longer than it actually is. You must love piano and all things Parisien to really appreciate this book . . . and even then, some passages are rather tedious and go . . . on . . . too . . . . long . . . .
Rating:
Summary: Don't bother if you're expecting a plot
Review: Perhaps I misunderstood that this was a memoir, and not a novel... In fact, it is a piano-lover's passionate (and true) tale of finding the perfect piano, bringing it home, and enjoying it. I'm sure it was quite a lovely instrument, and I learned quite a bit about the fine points of tuning and purchasing a piano-but it was NOT entertaining. If you're not a piano lover, don't waste your time.
Rating: 
Summary: A sumptuous treat
Review: Reading The Piano Shop on the Left Bank was like enjoying an extremely great meal with a very good glass of wine--only the book lasts longer! Every morsel in the intermix of music, French culture, the dynamics of life and friendship that flowed through Luc's atelier and the detailed history of some of the great piano makers and composers was a rich treasure. It certainly gave me a renewed appreciation for how marvelous an instrument the piano is. I have since re-tuned my own piano and hope to find the right kind of teacher so that I, too, can once again begin my own musical journey --that had stopped so many years ago. This is the kind of book that does not have to be read,(and perhaps should not be), in a single sitting-- but one that you can pick up from one day to the next and savor. I thank Thad Carhart for sharing his music of word.
Rating:
Summary: Being bewitched
Review: Really, from the very first page something magical happened to me. My mother is a piano teacher and indeed, I grew up in a home with two pianos and the of voices of students from the local university taking singing tuition from my mother as well. Suddenly, experiences from years ago have come rushing back.
Thad Carhart's return to the piano has now prompted me to take up piano lessons again. His uncritical delight in and acceptance of a different culture has been an education. I have a profound appreciation for Beethoven, and after reading the chapter on the chance encounter of a performance of his Diabelli Variations, I simply HAD to get a recording of these variations [I settled on the fabulous Piotr Andreszewski recording.] I sort of constructed my own soundtrack to this wonderful book as I went along. I do hope this is not the last I see from this writer. I will be looking out for him.
Rating:
Summary: Piano Passion
Review: Thad Carhart describes the awakening of his passion for the piano. While the back story is about how Thad meets Luc and re-discovers the piano, the bulk of the text is a review of the history of the piano. Actually, other books cover piano history in better depth, and this is largely a re-statement of that material. The character decriptions are pretty flat. The character of Luc seems pretty mysterious and one dimensional throughout the story, until the end, when we learn that he can tango and is a romantic frenchman after all. Perhaps, some things were lost in translation since the story is told through the Paris and very French experience. At times, Thad seems mostly obsessed with piano construction. The description of the Fazioli piano factory was probably the best part of the book. However, you don't get the impression that his knowledge of the piano literature is really that great. In fact, it's obvious that in spite of several years of lessons, he never advanced beyond the advanced beginner or intermediate level. I didn't get the feeling that he really was connecting emotionally with the music. A much better book for that would be Russell Sherman's "Piano Pieces." Overall, a light enjoyable story of piano and french music without much drama.
Rating:
Summary: A warm Paris read
Review: Thad Carhart has written a breezy and easily readable book about pianos, Paris and people. It's the kind of book you might consider taking in on a rainy day (if you're "down") or better yet, on a warm day sitting in the sun. I'm a pianist who found the nicest parts of "The Piano Shop" had to do with the people the author encountered.... my favorite was Jos, the overly-boozed piano tuner, though I did appreciate Carhart's insights into piano construction, reconstruction and the musical elements that are essential in completing the package of what goes into making a fine piano. He introduced me to a term I had never encountered..."fall board" (the piano key lid). My one objection is the author's continued "over fascination" with pianos. It really sounds more like a fetish and if he had been able to tone down that part of the book he would have had a more compelling story. Still, it's a book to be recommended, as I heartily do.
Rating:
Summary: All you need is an introduction....
Review: Thad Carhart has written a charming story about his love-affair with the piano which should appeal to both amateur and professional musicians. An ex-patriot American writer raising a family in a more remote corner of Paris' Left Bank, he daily passes a quaint piano shop while taking his children to school.Curiosity leads him inside, only to be abruply dismissed by the grumpy owner. A later attempt fares better, when he is be-friended by Luc, the younger man in position to take over the business. He politely informs Carhart that to do do business with them he needs an introduction from one of their customers! As startling as this seems to Americans reading this slim volume, it sets the stage for more than just buying a used piano from a venerable old Paris shop: it proves an introduction into a totally different Parisian way of doing business. Carhart is gradually drawn into Luc's workshop where pianos of all ages and condition repose, waiting to be drawn back to life. Carhart is seduced by the stories the instruments have to tell, and by Luc's uncanny ability to revive them to play again for a new generation. How Carhart finds his own instrument will warm the hearts of all pianists. A long list of characters float in and out of the shop, including a burly delivery man who casually plays a piece by Couperin (standing up!) while waiting to finish his business, to the strange young Dutchman who tunes for Luc, and spends his nights sleeping in railway coaches at various Paris train stations. The story contains alot of technical information about pianos that most professional pianists should know (but probably don't!), and it should prove interesting for others who know little about the actual workings of the instrument. There is a charming restraint about the work, especially about getting to know people slowly and letting the personal information about themselves mature along with the friendship. It proves a valuable insight into the daily life of Parisians, and explains many of the stereotypes about the French being cold to outsiders. All you need in an introduction!
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