The Con (Jesse Pentecost, ABC Books, $24.95 pb, ISBN 9780733320002, January 2008) ****

Derek Gunderson is a student, bogged down in his final year at a conservatorium of music, learning the finer arts of the piano and dreaming of a glittering career. He is also, as you would expect from a book of this kind, socially awkward enough to bring upon himself all sorts of embarrassment and shame (both vulgar and just plain cringe-worthy), but not awkward enough to have no friends or relationships of any kind. Derek makes a disaster of a crucial performance that causes him to rethink the trajectory of his career and whether he wants to be involved in music at all. This throws him onto the path of reappraisal of his life and his friends. You know the kind of book The Con is—a loose affiliation of humorous anecdotes centred upon Derek and his reflections upon and adventures in the world. The thing that sets this story apart is its knowledge and explanations of the musical world. From dissertations on why Beethoven is more of a genius than Mozart, to the inner world of conservatorium politics, this book should resonate with music fans and students. Although a bit long, it is often sharply observed and quite funny.

Shane Strange is a bookseller at Riverbend Books,voted Australian Independent Bookstore of the Year in 2007

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2007, Thorpe-Bowker