The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom
Everyone joins a band in this life. And what you play always affects someone. Sometimes, it affects the world.
Music personified.
The book is a rare opportunity to hear Music narrate a story. He has a character in mind – his name is Frankie Presto. Music tells the story of a life, giving way to lessons about all lives.
What I’ll remember most about this book is how it expressed ‘love’ and demonstrated living a life that’s uniquely your own.
Anya and Jun, we should have a book club session on it sometime.
I listened to this primarily on subways, uber’s, and long bike-rides away from the city in metro NYC suburbia. Unlike my normal style, I don’t have a list of long quotes that I collected. Here’s a few that I found from online to remember this book by:
You cannot unplay your notes. Time, like music, is indelible that way.
Truth is light. Lies are shadows. Music is both.
At a certain point, your life is more about your legacy to your kids than anything else.
What would you give to remember everything? I have this power. I absorb your memories; when you hear me, you relive them. A first dance. A wedding. The song that played when you got the big news. No other talent gives your
A teacher’s shadow can hover for life.
Man searches for courage in drink, but it is not courage that he finds, it is fear that he loses. A drunken man may step off a cliff. That does not make him brave, just forgetful.
I have said that music allows for quick creation. But it is nothing compared with what you humans can destroy in a single conversation.
A song inside a cage is never a song. It is a plea
But you cannot change your past, no matter how you craft your future.
You cannot write if you do not read,” the blind man said. “You cannot eat if you do not chew. And you cannot play if you do not”—he grabbed for the boy’s hand—“listen.”
The greatest thing, you’ll ever learn Is just to love, and be loved in return.
“Remember this, Francisco,” he said. “The secret is not to make your music louder, but to make the world quieter.”
“Silence enhances music. What you do not play can sweeten what you do. But it is not the same with words. What you do not say can haunt you.”
“You will never know all there is to know. You will learn until your final days. Then you will inspire someone else. This is what an artist does.”
EVERYONE JOINS A BAND IN THIS LIFE. You are born into your first one. Your mother plays the lead. She shares the stage with your father and siblings. Or perhaps your father is absent, an empty stool under a spotlight. But he is still a founding member, and if he surfaces one day, you will have to make room for him. As life goes on, you will join other bands, some through friendship, some through romance, some through neighborhoods, school, an army. Maybe you will all dress the same, or laugh at your own private vocabulary. Maybe you will flop on couches backstage, or share a boardroom table, or crowd around a galley inside a ship. But in each band you join, you will play a distinct part, and it will affect you as much as you affect it. And, as is usually the fate with bands, most of them will break up—through distance, differences, divorce, or death.
“Everyone joins a band in this life. One way or another, the band breaks up.”
“And, as is usually the fate with bands, most of them will break up—through distance, differences, divorce, or death.”
“Lágrima”—“Teardrop”