What is in it?

Imagine a book club where the members highlight passages from a shared book. “This paragraph merits highlighting, it’s so clever! This other paragraph, nah. Boring. Meaningless.” No two readers will highlight the exact same words, sentences, and paragraphs.

A book is a shapeshifting entity. Its contents vary according to who’s reading.

Have you ever recommended a beloved book to a friend, just for the friend to be surprised, shocked, and disappointed that you, Pedro, of all people, could have loved such a lousy little book? There’s a difference between saying “This is a great book” and “This book speaks to me (and I speak to it).”

Books are like artworks, compositions, situations, ideas, people, and dogs. They exist in the perceptions of the readers, the museumgoers, the listeners, the cats. It’s a well-known fact (besides being a fact, pure and simple) that readers rewrite books in their minds, according to their own temperament, their preferences, their life experiences, their blind spots.

Every reader is a co-writer of any book ever read.

Come mid-October, my newest book will be out there in the world, taking walks, meeting people, and approaching cats—some of which will purr, while others will growl and hiss (according to their temperament, their life experiences, etc.).

Hands, wrists, and fingers, not by themselves but in connection with creativity, health, culture, and metaphysics. Hands and language, hands and touch, hands and craft, hands and music. Hands as mirrors of who we are and how we think about ourselves and about the world. Hands as entry points to the exploration of identity, destiny, and the mystery of existence. Children’s hands, dancerly hands, the hands of musicians as they practice and perform. Hands as the stories that we tell about our own hands.

The book is divided in four sections and sixteen chapters. It contains a wealth of concepts and anecdotes, and it proposes many exercises suited to all readers even though the book’s title says “creative health for musicians.” It’s illustrated by nearly 200 photos. You can skip the anecdotes and enjoy the photos, you can skip the photos and enjoy the exercises, you can skip the exercises and enjoy your meandering journey as you rewrite the book according to your needs and wants.

I created 36 video clips, not explaining any exercises but reacting to the book’s ideas. Let’s say that I perform a one-man show in 36 episodes, mostly without talking (the book, I think, talks a lot already). The soundtracks of the episodes consist of my own compositions and improvisations (for the cello, the voice, the piano, the Native American flute, the guitar, the cymbals, and the French horn, so help me God). The clips are hosted by the publisher, Anthem Press.

Purr, growl, hiss. I hope you’ll purr, but who am I to tell you how to rewrite my book in your mind and heart! Meow!