title: Aural Sex
author: Regentin, Ann
description: For Max Schwarz, a violinist who grew up in the former East Germany, a chance to tour America looks like nothing so much a needed change of pace. A public, acrimonious divorce from his diva wife left him in a tailspin and America looks like as good a place as any to distract himself. Nothing, however, goes as planned. His schedule leaves him little time to see the country, his manager for the duration of the tour will not give him the benefit of the doubt on anything and there are conflicts with conductors, as Max's interpretations of the pieces he must play often varies from that of the men holding the batons.
  And then there is Bianca. She's the second bassoon in the orchestra in Chicago, a single mother with a pixie face and violet eyes. The attraction is immediate and, for Max, terrifying. Only when he has to say goodbye does he have to courage to say other things. What begins as a passionate farewell backstage becomes an ongoing, erotic telephone conversation as Max moves from city to city, learning more about both America and himself in the process. The better he gets to know Bianca, the harder he falls for her, but how can he form any kind of relationship with a woman he may never see again?