Having read each of the columns where Steve Lopez introduced us to Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, I wasn't surprised by most of the content of the book. Where I was pleasantly surprised was in Mr Lopez' admissions that he was unprepared for the depth of Mr Ayers' illness, and that he, at times, attempted to rush Mr Ayers' treatment. His growth ahd changes are unmistakable. Mr Lopez is to be commended for what he has done to bring awareness to mental health issues faced by many residents of LA, and specifically Mr Ayers.

"The book was better." Moviegoers are always saying that.
Back in 2005, *Los Angeles Times* columnist Steve Lopez wrote a series of stories about a homeless man who turned out to possess orchestra-level talent on several stringed instruments.
Lopez turned his columns into *The Soloist* -- and now it's being turned into a movie (an early Oscar contender, no less, to be released Nov. 21) starring Robert Downey Jr. as Lopez and Jamie Foxx as Nathaniel Ayers, the musician who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.
So why not just wait for the movie? Downey Jr. is a great actor, and Foxx, having played another gifted-but-disabled musician in Ray, just might pull off the mix of inspiration and delusion.
Because books provide detailed, verbal pleasure, that's why. In real life, fore example, Lopez is married and very much involved in the life of his young daughter; in the movie, he's divorced. OK, so screenwriter Susannah Grant (*Erin Brockovich*) needed to streamline the narrative.
But scenes recorded for the movie won't capture the author's commentary. Movie directors can compel our focus, but they can't enter into the characters' interpretations. At one point, for example, Lopez decides to spend a night on the streets as a homeless person alongside Ayers, who demonstrates how he taps a stick on the sidewalk at night to scare off rodents. And Lopez observes: "He's a classical musician who has taken a great fall and now finds himself fending off sewer rats, but when I look into his eyes, I find no hint of regret, no recognition of this nightly collision between beautiful thoughts and ugly reality."
Most important, the process of reading through the months and months of coordination it took among several people to get Ayers off the streets and into treatment (tentatively, provisionally) -- the reader's act of setting the book aside, then returning to it days later -- mimics the one-step-forward, three-steps-back hassles that Lopez endured just to make Ayers' life a little better. Movies accelerate problems, then "solve" them in two hours.
Director Joe Wright allowed us a glimpse, in *Atonement,* of a happily-ever-after ending that's severely undercut by stark realities. Reader-viewers of *The Soloist* will anticipate an ending that offers the hope of continued treatment for Ayers, not a cure. Lopez's book ends with the question of whether Ayers will be able to continue attending concerts at Walt Disney Concert Hall, let alone performing in them. No sentimentalized Hollywood endings are welcome here.
If they intrude, then this Thanksgiving, you can stroll out of a cineplex somewhere and justly say, "The book was better."

Steve Lopez has written a moving story of a talent musician and, in the process, written an illuminating two-year autobiography.

Great story line. Towards the end, I began to read slower, then pick the book down for a few days, because I did not the story to end. I think this fall around October, November the movies based off this book is scheduled to come out, Starring Jamie Fox. Might not be a bad idae to pick this box up and read it before the movie comes.

Steve Lopez writes an eloquent, very personal story of a homeless, mentally ill man with a brilliant, talented past. It is totally by chance that Lopez meets Nathaniel Ayers along Skid Row in downtown LA. Captivated by the music Nathaniel plays on a beat-up violin that is missing two essential strings, Lopez steps over the threshold into a world very unlike his own.
As a reporter, Lopez's style is rich, tactile and complete. We follow Nathaniel's trail of breadcrumbs from humble beginnings in Cleveland to Julliard to the tunnel in LA where he sleeps.
Lopez's visually evocative language creates a spell that shows us how the mentally ill are marginalized and along with him, we ride the magic carpet of great hopes for recovery and change and then plummet into the depths of Nathaniel's delusional brain chemical mania.
All the while, Lopez allows us to experience his personal emotional struggle of managing a reporter's tettering job, a wife, a two year old daughter and his commitment to helping Nathaniel, once a musical prodigy, now brought down by schizophrenia.
Poignant and touching, this book is a true story of people so real, you will wake from the page with music in your ears and in your heart.

I have read to chapter 5 so far. I will continue to read because it is a good story and I want to know what happens. I have an intense interest in both music and in the workings of the human mind.

I found the book to be inspiring from a number of points of view. Anyone concerned about the plight of the homeless or working in mental health or human services could find the book well worth reading. The reader who is musically inclined or a lover of music will find it equally meaningful. What is has to say about those who contributed to the cause is inspiring, from any vantage point. A real boost if one's faith in humanity is tested in our times.

The Soloist by Steve Lopez was such an excellent read. I related to the music side because I am a pianist and the mental illness side. I've never had Schizophrenia, but when feeling down I know how revitalizing music is. This was a warm, touching story that pulls you in and makes you care about Mr. Nathaniel Ayers. I could feel and understand his love for the music. I would like to know how he's doing and what became of him. I have never felt that way after reading a story. The story just touches the humanity in me and I think in everyone who reads it.

This is an outstanding book, but on tape, it is convenient only for a focused, organized person who will listen straight through, never needing to know what is on which tape. There is absolutely no information as to what each tape contains, which I find very user UNFRIENDLY. Should you want, for whatever reason, to toggle between reading and listening: forget it!

Compelling, heartwarming, uplifting, thought-provoking - this is one to add to your library and share with your friends.

A testament to the enduring spirit of belief and nobility in the face of set-backs and reversals. Mr. Lopez is an extraordinary writer and an exceptional human being who brings a damaged soul to life while revealing his own.

As a violinist and a former Californian, I found this book fascinating. Had it on my Amazon Kindle and carried it with me everywhere. Very cool that it will be a movie. I expect it to have a kind of "Pursuit of Happyness" vibe to it, and look forward to its release.

Steve Lopez is a newspaper columnist for the LOS ANGELIS TIMES. A few years back, he had a difficult time finding a topic for his column and did what is natural to his profession: searched for the ideal story. Lopez is not a "sunny day at the beach" kind of writer, and looked for a subject at a place that could be the most notorious place in the United States--Los Angeles' Skid Row. On Skid Row he found a story that was perfect, a story that could perhaps win him a Pulitzer. The perfect story begins when Lopez discovers an obviously troubled and homeless man playing beautiful music on a rather beat up violin. Even for someone with an untrained musical ear like Lopez, it was clear this man had some training, some kind of history. Lopez wondered how could a man with such a gift end up on the street and knew the answer could be a story. It is in trying to learn the story that Lopez encountered Nathaniel Anthony Ayers and the lives of the two changed forever.

While the story of Nathaniel Ayers is one of redemption, it is not a predictable tale of a street person finding a home. Nathaniel is homeless due to mental illness, schizophrenia to be exact. We learn that his condition thwarted a promising musical career, caused him to sever ties with his family, and make illogical judgments in life. While readers do see slight improvements in Nathaniel's life throughout the book, readers also know his life will not be what most people would consider a desirable. Readers also see the struggles Lopez wrestles with as he writes about Nathaniel. His readers praise his story, but some wonder whether he's exploiting him. These challenges make Lopez look at Nathaniel more as a person than a subject of a column. We also believe in Lopez' sincerity as he tries to help Nathaniel, being frustrated at the limits of his actions and his outrage that there are more not more services for the mentally ill. Lopez also introduces readers to a variety of dedicated people who work to help the homeless and ordinary people who are moved by Nathaniel's story and try to do something to help.

Lopez does a number of important things in THE SOLOIST. First, he tells an all too often true story of life on the street for the mentally ill. He exposes the lack of services for people in Nathaniel's situation. He shows the power of friendship but also the limitations of friendship in dealing with such serious issues. For me, the most important lesson from the book is the importance not just of stating a problem, but doing something about it. This is the challenge Steve Lopez discovered when he first met Nathaniel and one he accepted. It was the basis of important changes in Nathaniel's life, but it had a transforming effect on Lopez as well.

The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music

Not only is this a compelling story about a homeless but very talented musician, but also it details the frustration of those who try to help such as he.

The author is caught up in that frustration and expresses the impact that trying to help Nathaniel is having on his own life.

The book is beautifully written. The reader can feel the passion of Mr. Lopez as he becomes more deeply involved in the life of this man. What started out for the author as just a good article for his newspaper column became a huge part of his life.

I heard 2 radio interviews of Mr. Lopez and had to buy the book.

Steve Lopez takes the reader on a heart rending journey into the unstable world of mental illness. Beautifully written. Real easy to fall in love with all the caring people who reached out to Nathaniel. Caring has power. Music has power. Together....a miracle happened. Thanks Steve.

This book was warm and intense. I really could not put it down. It is especially interestimg to music lovers

I first heard of Nathanial Ayers on NPR's Fresh Air with Teri Gross. Steve Lopez painted an amazing picture of a man who was homeless, mentally ill, and a wonderful musician. Reading about the man's life from childhood, a promising career at Julliard School of Music, and then mental breakdown, is sad, frightening, heartbreaking, and then inspirational especially Steve's dedication to this man. I am looking forward to the movie version this fall and hope it somewhat stands up to this great book. Highly recommend it to anybody who likes music, stories about down and out people, or just life.

In November of 2008 The Soloist will debut on the big screen. Starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. and directed by Joe Wright (Atonment and Pride & Prejudice) it has the makings of a hit film. Before it was a film, The Soloist was a series of articles written by Steve Lopez for the Los Angeles Times. And between the two it is also a bestselling book. It tells of the unlikely meeting and the even more unlikely friendship between Lopez and Nathaniel Ayers.

Nathaniel Ayers was a prodigy, an African American musician who was accepted to Juliard to play and to study classical bass. During his second year at that school he developed schizophrenia and was quickly unable to function in such a demanding environment. He was forced to drop out. Before long he was broke and homeless, living on the streets. But despite the adversity in his life, his musical talent did not abandon him. Neither did his passion for classical music.

Thirty years later reporter Steve Lopez walked by him as Ayers was standing in Los Angeles' Skid Row playing a two-string violin. Intrigued by the possibilities of a good story, Ayers wrote about this strange "Violin Man" and was shocked by the reaction these articles received. But as time passed, Ayers became less of a curiosity and more of a friend. Though still inflicted with his illness and exhibiting many of its more pronounced and erratic symptoms, Lopez takes a real interest in his new friend and helps him find permanent lodging, reconnects him to his family and even connects him to the classical music scene in L.A..

The Soloist is a good book and one that is carried along by an intriguing story. While many will find the ending a mite disappointing, it is still worth the journey to get there. The lack of total redemption and recovery at the end of the book, though disappointing, is a mark of the book's realness. Like so much of life there is a happy ending, to be sure, but not as happy an ending as we may have liked.

I didn't expect this to be a book that I couldn't put down! I'm from the LA area and knew the basic story from the Times columns. Imagine my surprise to find the book on a vacation far from home being read by out-of-towners! I think 4 of us read it on a 2 week cruise. I laughed, I cried (a lot) and I now have a better understanding of mental illness. Steve Lopez has written a beautiful, touching book that leaves me wanting more regular updates on the special and challenging life of Nathaniel Ayers.

Lopez does an incredible job of describing his 2 year friendship with a gifted but severely flawed musician who suffers from profound mental illness. It is a heart-wrenching but wonderfully uplifting store crafted by a truly humane author.

t starts as a newspaper story right out of a 1930s movie.

Newspaper columnist hurries back to the office. On the way, he sees a middle-aged African-American man, in rags, playing Beethoven on a shabby violin. Could that be a story?

A few weeks later, the journalist returns.

This time he notices that the violin has only two strings.

The violinist is philosophical about that. These things happen when you're broke, he says --- you get used to doing without, you play the best you can.

And what about the names he's scrawled, with a rock, on the pavement?

Oh. Those. My Juilliard classmates.

Now Steve Lopez, ace columnist for the Los Angeles Times, has the makings of 800 great words. This is like a genius tumbling from Harvard to hobo --- how did Nathaniel Ayers get here? And then, of course, how will the attention that Lopez lavishes on Ayers, in his columns and in their conversations, turn his life around?

That's the start of a decent book. But it's not this one. For after the first LA Times story produces a massive reader response --- including gifts of stringed instruments --- the idea of a "second chance" becomes important to Lopez and Ayers' newfound fans. After all, that's the American way. You go out there an unknown, you come back as American Idol. Cue the applause, spare us the complications.

But at the center of this book is mental illness, which is, for Ayers, deep and seemingly intractable. He snapped at Juilliard, had treatment, then both fell between the cracks and wanted to --- he refuses therapy or medication, finding peace only in playing classical music near a statue of Beethoven.

Steve Lopez walks into a swinging door when he befriends Nathaniel Ayers. Lopez has a wife and kids and a career that runs on adrenaline; to be with Ayers, he must surrender to the emotional and intellectual swings of a crazy person. Is Ayers getting better with attention? Will it change him to meet his Juilliard classmate, Yo-Yo Ma? And, at the bottom line, will he ever decide that thieves and government agents won't rip him off if he moves into an apartment??

Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. are in the movie; no way would Tom Cruise volunteer for the role of Steve Lopez. Cruise apparently believes --- as does the father of Nathaniel Ayers --- that mental illness is a choice and that therapy and medication merely mask the problem. In these pages, Lopez finds himself dealing with a more complex reality: People as damaged as Nathaniel Ayers do better with care and therapy, and then they may well do worse. There's no straight line. And as for total healing, don't hold your breath.

But something else is at play here, and as Lopez tells the story of an unlikely friendship, I came to see why readers fall in love with this book. It's something simple, and, as a result, extremely moving. It is the power simply of noticing another person, and caring, and continuing to care.

"Relationship is primary," a doctor tells Lopez. "It is possible to cause seemingly biochemical changes through human emotional involvement. You literally have changed his chemistry by being his friend."

That cuts both ways; "The Soloist" is also the story of the biochemical changes that friendship with Nathaniel Ayers forge in Steve Lopez. If you are open to this book, you may find yourself veering off your own well-traveled brain pathways into fresh territory. That's a big dividend from 270 pages you can read in an evening.

Steve Lopez is my favorite columnist on the Los Angeles Times, and he has published a book that has secured that title--with me and many more readers. Anyone who loves Los Angeles, who loves music, or who loves people will thrill to this story of Lopez's encounter with a homeless musician and all the surprises it led to. The beautiful and thoughtful writing pulls you through a story that just happens to be all too true. Hail to Steve Lopez. May his journalistic tribe increase.

I could not put this story down. A tale of two men destined to meet and to change each others lives. Beware this story will change you. blessings to Mr. Ayres and Mr. Lopez.

My name is Joseph Russo -- I am one of Nathaniel's Juilliard friends mentioned in this book. I believe this book should be a "must read" for anyone who would like to more fully understand (and be affected by) the power of music and the importance of friendship....as well as the meaning of happiness and joy. It is a wonderful and ongoing story...Steve Lopez is an excellent writer befriending my dear friend Nathaniel who is a kind and wonderful person and extremely talented musician. You may want to read this book before you see the movie -- due out later this year.

Six stars. A "there but for the grace of god"... book. Ordinary people can do extraordinary things. I used to play the bass, and I knew even knew Gary Karr. I love classical music. I kept finding myself wiping away tears of joy.

In a neglected corner of L.A.'s Pershing Park stands a statue of Beethoven, hat and cane clasped behind his back. The minute Nathaniel Anthony Ayers laid eyes on it, he knew he'd landed in the right city. Los Angeles. The City of Beethoven.

Ayers, in his mid-50s, is a Julliard-trained bass player whose future as a musician crashed and burned when he suffered a psychotic breakdown midway through his studies in the early 1970s. The crack-up was probably prompted by the intensely competitive Julliard atmosphere, but also by the stressful fact that Ayers was a black student on a nearly all-white campus. His professors thought him brilliant. But with the onset of mental illness (later diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenia), Ayers dropped out of sight. Years later, he wound up in Los Angeles, discovered the statue of Beethoven (his musical hero), and settled down to a life in the streets where he serenaded passing traffic on a battered, two-stringed violin. Music was the abiding passion that kept him grounded. Music was the catalyst that brought beauty and peace to his frequently confused and always fragile world.

One day Steve Lopez, columnist for the "L.A. Times" and an engaging, insightful author, heard Ayers playing. Sensing a column topic, he struck up an acquaintance. The acquaintance unexpectedly blossomed into a friendship, and The Soloist is the story of that friendship. Lopez's sensitive memoir spotlights the disorientation of schizophrenia, the perils of living on the streets, and the difficulty in achieving recovery. But in telling Ayers' story, Lopez also reminds us that the mentally ill and the homeless possess dignity, a fierce need for autonomy, and a hunger for meaning and beauty in their lives. In the process, Lopez also has some telling things to say about the scandalous fact that most major U.S. cities contain Skid Rows in which the most vulnerable of our citizens are segregated; some much-needed observations, given our pharmaceutical-crazy, quick-cure ethos, about patience, respect, and compassion when it comes to therapy (his mentor in this regard is Dr. Mark Ragins, a genuine pioneer in recovery therapy); and some extraordinarily important things to say about the redemptive power of music.

Lopez's memoir of his friendship with Ayers never falls into a feel-good sentimentality. Ayers may heal to a certain extent, but it's unlikely that he'll ever recover and he certainly has his bad, disoriented, full-of-rage days. As Lopez learned, progress in treating mental illness is never linear. But Ayers now lives in an apartment instead of on the street; he's happily making music on a variety of instruments in his own studio; and he knows that he's loved. Lopez, in turn, confesses that he frequently felt burdened, helpless, frustrated, and on one occasion when Ayers melted down, betrayed. But he also discovered that his friendship with Ayers enriched him: "I know that through [Ayers'] courage and humility and faith in the power of art--through his very ability to find happiness and purpose--he has awakened something in me...it's not a stretch to say that this man I hoped to save has done as much for me as I have for him" (p. 268).

A magnificent story about two really quite extraordinary men. Highly, unreservedly, recommended.

In a neglected corner of L.A.'s Pershing Park stands a statue of Beethoven, hat and cane clasped behind his back. The minute Nathaniel Anthony Ayers laid eyes on it, he knew he'd landed in the right city. Los Angeles. The City of Beethoven.

Ayers, in his mid-50s, is a Julliard-trained bass player whose future as a musician crashed and burned when he suffered a psychotic breakdown midway through his studies in the early 1970s. The crack-up was probably prompted by the intensely competitive Julliard atmosphere, but also by the stressful fact that Ayers was a black student on a nearly all-white campus. His professors thought him brilliant. But with the onset of mental illness (later diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenia), Ayers dropped out of sight. Years later, he wound up in Los Angeles, discovered the statue of Beethoven (his musical hero), and settled down to a life in the streets where he serenaded passing traffic on a battered, two-stringed violin. Music was the abiding passion that kept him grounded. Music was the catalyst that brought beauty and peace to his frequently confused and always fragile world.

One day Steve Lopez, columnist for the "L.A. Times" and an engaging, insightful author, heard Ayers playing. Sensing a column topic, he struck up an acquaintance. The acquaintance unexpectedly blossomed into a friendship, and The Soloist is the story of that friendship. Lopez's sensitive memoir spotlights the disorientation of schizophrenia, the perils of living on the streets, and the difficulty in achieving recovery. But in telling Ayers' story, Lopez also reminds us that the mentally ill and the homeless possess dignity, a fierce need for autonomy, and a hunger for meaning and beauty in their lives. In the process, Lopez also has some telling things to say about the scandalous fact that most major U.S. cities contain Skid Rows in which the most vulnerable of our citizens are segregated; some much-needed observations, given our pharmaceutical-crazy, quick-cure ethos, about patience, respect, and compassion when it comes to therapy (his mentor in this regard is Dr. Mark Ragins, a genuine pioneer when it comes to recovery therapy); and some extraordinarily important things to say about the redemptive power of music.

Lopez's memoir of his friendship with Ayers never falls into a feel-good sentimentality. Ayers may heal to a certain extent, but it's unlikely that he'll ever recover and he certainly has his bad, disoriented, full-of-rage days. As Lopez learned, progress in treating mental illness is never linear. But Ayers now lives in an apartment instead of on the street; he's happily making music on a variety of instruments in his own studio; and he knows that he's loved. Lopez, in turn, confesses that he frequently felt burdened, helpless, frustrated, and on one occasion when Ayers melted down, betrayed. But he also discovered that his friendship with Ayers enriched him: "I know that through [Ayers'] courage and humility and faith in the power of art--through his very ability to find happiness and purpose--he has awakened something in me...it's not a stretch to say that this man I hoped to save has done as much for me as I have for him" (p. 268).

A magnificent story about two really quite extraordinary men. Highly, unreservedly, recommended.

Let me say up front that I normally avoid books like the Soloist. When I picked it up, however, and started glancing through it I became hooked and couldn't really put it down. Is it a page turner? Not really. For me I became entangled with Steve Lopez, the author, and Nathaniel Ayers the focus of the book and simply had to see how the book ended.

Steve Lopez, a reporter for the LA Times, accidently hears violin music coming, apparently from nowhere. When he investigates he finds Nathaniel, an obviously down and out and homeless individual playing what is essentially a broken instrument. Intrigued, Steve Lopez becomes wrapped up in a mission to lift Nathaniel out of his obvious difficulties. Steve learns that Nathaniel was a former Juilliard student and a gifted musician. He was also suffering from mental illness (schizophrenia) leaving him basically disfunctional.

Throughout The Soloist the reader rides heavy seas with highs full of hope and then lows filled with disappointment and dispare. Through Nathaniel's story we see the value of the human spirit. Through the actions of Steve Lopez we see that a simple act of kindness and humanity is never wasted, regardless of our motives.

Steve Lopez is a wonderful writer and his story is worth your time to read.