RaveThe Washington Post... immensely moving ... With gorgeous prose and granular inspection, Kennicott has created a subtle and profound portrait of love, loss and the human condition ... Bach takes up much real estate in this memoir and Kennicott spares no detail, providing fascinating insight into Bach as boy, husband, father, master organist, teacher and, of course, composer ... The beauty of this memoir is not only in the compassion Kennicott ultimately finds for his mother and himself. It’s also in his need to unearth the seed of his mother’s nature, and how he might then finally release her hold, even after death. And in the way the Goldbergs became his vehicle to explore such a difficult rite of passage. In the end, it is about his very process of inquiry ... we are enriched by Kennicott’s ability to face, head-on, personal and creative hardship as he seeks what is important for us all. Through Bach, Kennicott discovers his own ability to love.
