The Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945 [B0360]

2002 PB in great condition. Named one of the Best Books of 1999 by the Los Angeles Times, The Pianist is now a major motion picture directed by Roman Polanski and starring Adrien Brody. The Pianist won the Cannes Film Festival's most prestigious prize-the Palme d'Or. On September 23, 1939, Wladyslaw Szpilman played Chopin's Nocturne in C-sharp minor live on the radio as shells exploded outside-so loudly that he couldn't hear his piano. It was the last live music broadcast from Warsaw. That day, a German bomb hit the station, and Polish Radio went off the air. Though he lost his entire family, Szpilman survived in hiding. In the end, his life was saved by a German officer who heard him play the same Chopin Nocturne on a piano found among the rubble. Written immediately after the war and suppressed for decades, The Pianist is a stunning testament to human endurance and the redemptive power of fellow feeling.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "Words cannot describe how much I loved this book. It made me cry so many times. I will never forget the stories that were told. This and the movie based off of it are now favorites of mine."; "Sometimes a book just makes you feel angry. This memoir details when Poland was controlled by the Germans in WWII. Jewish families forced into the Warsaw ghetto, the violence, cruelty towards men, women and children is horrifying. I don't understand the people who enjoy inflicting misery on other humans. War brings out the worst in people."; "Szpilman's personal resilience comes through so powerfully. It's not just the events that make this book powerful, but the way it's told-with such rawness, honesty, and humanity. So sad what he had to endure."