The Upright Piano Player (Nan A. Talese),by David Abbott: David Abbotts quietly devastating debut novel,''The Upright Piano Player, centers on Henry Cage,a successful,respected business executive floundering a bit in the wake of his retirement. We first meet Henry on his way to a funeral,in the aftermath of a shocking and gruesome accident. Abbott then backtracks five years,on the cusp of the new millennium,as Henry is beginning to adjust to retired life. A random violent encounter on New Years Eve leads to escalating acts of harassment,which mostly embarrass rather than frighten Henry as hes got other things to worry about: his ex-wifes illness is getting more serious,and hes cautiously starting to rebuild a relationship with his son,who now has a son of his own. The narrative jumps around among Henry and a number of other disparate characters _ his ex,his son and daughter-in-law,his former business colleagues and the man who persists in stalking him _ and the effect underscores the current of loss and sorrow running throughout the novel: Everyone is in their own protected,isolated sphere,both yearning for and fearful of reaching out. It makes the moments of actual meaningful connection all the more moving _ if not utterly heartwrenching _ and the moments when characters reject such connections both tragic and,in one instance,brutally disturbing. Aside from the handful of violent acts,this is not a story with a lot of fireworks. It moves slowly and deliberately in delicate elegiac prose,gracefully constructed and wholly consuming.
