Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Notes from a Minor Key: A Memoir of Music, Love, and Healing
 
 
Tell the Publisher!
I'd like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Notes from a Minor Key: A Memoir of Music, Love, and Healing [Hardcover]

Dawn Bailiff (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)


Available from these sellers.



Book Description

November 2, 2007
Dawn Bailiff eloquently tells the story of her struggle over the debilitating effects of Multiple Sclerosis that stole her identity as a rising star in the classical music world where she performed as a piano soloist with notable maestros Leonard Bernstein, Eugene Ormandy, Daniel Barenboim, and Sir Georg Solti.

Over 400,000 people in the US and 2.5 million worldwide have been diagnosed with MS. Two hundred more are diagnosed each week.

Offering an alternative to the self-help memoir that attempts to teach you to become enlightened and so heal yourself, Bailiff asks: who says that disease has to be eliminated, just because it exists? Thanks to alternative medicine, indomitable will, and the power of prayer, Bailiff rose from her affliction to become a mother, scholar, writer and teacher. She successfully integrates numerous spiritual concepts into simple wisdom grounded in tenderness, intimacy and reality while embracing an imperfect life. This "great read" offers an insider's view of what it takes to become a world-class musician and uniquely explores the story of soul mates confronted with Multiple Sclerosis.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this spiritual memoir, pianist prodigy and composer Bailiff delves into her early genius, her passion for her husband and kindred spirit, Paul, and her debilitating struggle with multiple sclerosis. Bailiff met her husband-to-be at Baltimore's Peabody Conservatory in 1986, where Paul studied composition and the author, at only 16, was a college sophomore and competition performer. The book alternates between the points of view of these two (which can be stilted), who ended up studying and working in Europe: the author became a soloist in Vienna, where she played with Leonard Bernstein's Viennese Symphony, and she and Paul married. However, a series of apparently stress-related illnesses and horrific bouts of pain culminated in her collapse onstage in 1992, and she was finally diagnosed with MS, which spelled the end of Bailiff's career. She and Paul, still living in Vienna, tried alternative therapies such as a macrobiotic diet and holistic medicine, as well as returning to their Jewish faith. With their move to Seattle and her pregnancy, Bailiff's grief only increased: their baby, David, died of heart problems at age two, and Paul committed suicide some months later. Despite the book's problematic structure, this is an astounding tale of talent and woe. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

A 'masterpiece of desperate harmonies,' Notes from a Minor Key will captivate you from the very first sentence.... This is a memoir of an extraordinary talent, of a half-Jewish, half-Japanese girl who played with Leonard Bernstein when she was just 10, who was accepted into the prestigious Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University at the age of 15. It is also a passionate love story, a sublime tour de force, told seamlessly from dual perspectives. Despite endometriosis, cancer, MS, and piercing personal tragedy, Dawn's hands still evoke magic--a magic now conveyed through language, through words, 'as perfectly timed as arpeggios.' This book is unadulterated genius! --MS Focus

A memorable memoir about an unforgettable woman who triumphed in the face of adversity. Readers will empathize, sympathize, and care about her. This book is totally unforgettable. --The Midwest Book Review

First-time author Bailiff[...]recounts her life struggles with passion and honesty.[...]Her story traverses the long road of dealing with multiple health problems, her diagnosis of MS, the effect of the disease on her marriage, the death of her only child at age two from aortic stenosis, and the suicide of her husband. This book is an eloquent statement of her healing process, which, as she writes, "has encompassed the physical and the spiritual, the alternative and the conventional." --Library Journal

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Hampton Roads Pub Co (November 2, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1571745548
  • ISBN-13: 978-1571745545
  • Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,998,516 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

 

Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put this book down!, December 4, 2007
By 
Sonia Rice (Wilmington, DE USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Notes from a Minor Key: A Memoir of Music, Love, and Healing (Hardcover)
What an exceptional piece of writing! I've never read anything by a man or a woman that is as raw and honest. Through the telling of a beautiful love story, Dawn Bailiff becomes vulnerable to the the reader in a most powerful way.

She came into this world with incredible intelligence and talent. While she continuously struggles with the effects of multiple sclerosis and has suffered unimaginable losses, she continues to share her greatness through the gift of this book.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Heroine of Today, April 30, 2008
This review is from: Notes from a Minor Key: A Memoir of Music, Love, and Healing (Hardcover)
What an incredible writer Dawn is, and what a heroic story she shares with us.
I was awed by her word-ability -- Dawn is truly capable of giving the reader an intimate portrait that has us experience, along with her, the triumphs and tragedies that she so adeptly relates with her two-character style of writing.

She is a genius of a person. A gifted musician and now an insightful story teller. She expresses her superior intelligence in such a down to earth way that she makes it easy for us to like her and want to be her friend. I was moved emotionally as the story unfolded. In fact, knowing her story in advance of my reading, I found myself reluctant to read on, knowing what was to come. I'd put the book away for days eventually braving her words.
I couldn't believe the amount of pain she somehow tolerates, yet transmutes through her spiritual exercises. Dawn shows us the way a true believer struggles with overwhelming situations and actually achieves victories over adversities.

Worthy of being put on the Oprah Show, and let the world get to know a Giant of Spiritual Power, one who shows us the way. She is truly a 21st Century woman.God Bless Her.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars courage, December 12, 2007
This review is from: Notes from a Minor Key: A Memoir of Music, Love, and Healing (Hardcover)
This is a facinating story of a remarkable woman who courageously survives in spite of contacting MS and suffering other personal tragedies. This is a passionate love story of a gifted artist that is deeply moving and invites the reader inside her thoughts. A page turner.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews




Only search this product's reviews



Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
composition department, Künstler Höchster
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Minor Key, Dawn Bailiff, Madison Street Baltimore, Leonard Bernstein, Dawn Wassmer, Pension Aclon Dorotheergasse, Paul Bailiff, Clara Wieck, Hotel Imperial, Vienna Philharmonic, New Testament, Ayn Rand, Yale Gordon, Saint-Saëns Second, New York, Berlin Wall, Piano Concerto, Rachmaninov Second, Vienna Symphony, Houston Symphony, Amy Hagaman
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums


Listmania!


Create a Listmania! list

So You'd Like to...


Create a guide


Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject