My father wrote Mr. Blok at the prime of his illustrious cello career. I was very young and didn’t read the manuscript until last year. At some point many years ago I asked Papa why he didn’t publish it. “Because if I did,” he said, “both you and your sister Jephta would be expelled from school!” Doubtful, I thought, but he said nothing more….
Papa was well-known for being a spellbinding raconteur, often exaggerating and twisting reality into new shapes and sizes, and this talent jumps out of everything he wrote. Mr. Blok has many examples of tangential episodes and scenes that are typical of Papa’s storytelling. The story radiates in various directions echoing Papa as he spoke in overlapping circles of free associations. These digressions enrich the novel greatly.
Excerpts from Joram’s introduction to Mr. Blok, a novel by his father, cellist Gregor Piatigorsky.
Read more about Mr. Blok, and hear more
about what it’s like to forge your own path when born into a famous family.
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