Heartwarming ... There are lots of helpful things you can take from Sondheim, but they don’t map onto 'life lessons' in quite the way the book suggests — but it doesn’t matter. Beyond the headings and the odd memoirish aside, the author largely ignores the premise of the title to quickly and mercifully move on to other things.
Compelling ... This book is not meant for Sondheim neophytes. Try as Schoch might, any attempt to acquaint the unfamiliar devolves into a dizzying barrage of character names and plot points. For a text ostensibly fixated on Sondheim, a few too many pages veer into indulgent digressions on the shows themselves ... When it comes to musing on Sondheim, from the intellectual to the introspective, Schoch seems to know it all.
Affectionate ... While some of Schoch’s interpretations can feel like a stretch, he illuminates with appealing and unbridled enthusiasm how Sondheim plumbed the depths of human experience. Musical theater lovers will be delighted.
