Lang Lang: Playing with Flying Keys
Grade 6–9—Winning his first piano competition in his native China at age five, Lang Lang had only one thought in mind from the beginning: to be "Number One." While his accolades have been many, his trials have been equally numerous, for he was forced to spend most of his childhood away from his kind and loving mother and under the ever-watchful eye of his strict father. He suffered tremendous homesickness and had to learn to cope with situations far beyond those normal for his chronological age in order to realize his dream of being an internationally known pianist on the classical circuit. This boy wonder explains his life as the pampered only child of parents who placed all of their hopes in him. His father definitely went over the edge, at one point even begging his 10-year-old son to overdose on pills because he had "lost face"—a part of the story that is sure to horrify readers. The book includes a glossary of Western composers with Lang Lang's personal commentary about their strengths and styles. Much like Li Cunxin'sMao's Last Dancer(Walker, 2008), this is the story of a young man determined to make something of himself, not only for his own sake, but also for the sake of his family. However, unlike the former, which places the personal story within the political context of Maoist China,Lang Langis a totally personal tale. Nevertheless, because of the youthfulness of the author, his autobiography could serve as an additional purchase for libraries building modern-biography and/or Chinese-culture collections.—Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, LaSalle Academy, Providence, RICopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.