"A deep and sensitive look at human depth and artistic sensitivity itself. Cottle somehow reconciles talent and love on "Hawthorne Place," a 20th Centruy American "Bloomsbury" for the most gifted musicians of our age."
—Jonathan Alter, Senior Editor, Newsweek

"This book is a biography of a pas de deux. Mother and son caught in a tortuous tango, in which each one defines and simultaneously distorts the other. It's also a triumphant concert played by the royalty of classical music surrounding the author's mother. A complex psychological study of the demons and glory of the creative process. And, mostly, a love poem from an angry adolescent for the mother he hated, as he rediscovers her in the process of mourning."
—Salvador Minuchin, M.D., author of Family Healing: Strategies for Hope and Understanding

"This book is a work of extraordinary brilliance...[Cottle] offers us a complex view of his mother, one that incorporates psychodynamic, cognitive, and familial explanations. It is a story I will never forget."
—Jeffrey Berman, author of Risky Writing: Self-Disclosure and Self-Transformation in the Classroom

Thomas Cottle has written a fascinating book about a remarkable woman. his mother, the pianist Gitta Gradova. It couples an intimate insight into the artist's life with a warm memoir of a musician's world, with a cast of characters from Toscanini to Isaac Stern. The chapter on Vladimir Horowitz is a gem. Read this book for edification and sheer pleasure!
—Gary Graffman, concert pianist and author of I Really Should be Practicing

Amazing, delicate and blunt.
—Susan Cheever, author

An extraordinarily sensitive portrait...
—Howard Gardner, The Boston Globe

...a captivating memoir...
—Harvard Magazine

"Cottle's writing...is lyrical, flows smoothly, and is a fine balance of subjective and objective materials...I marvel at his ability to create such a fine balance between internal and external sources. His writing creates a visual and auditory imagery that lingers long after the book has ended...Compared to other personal memoirs I have read over the years, this one is right up there with the best."
—Barbara Okun, MassPsych

"...a poignant exploration of the conflict between love of art and love of family in any significant artist."
—DeWitt Henry, Ploughshares

"I absolutely loved the book!...[it] is a tour de force... "
—David Steinberg, President, Long Island University

"...unusual and unusually loving story...[He] is writing in a new form...so beautifully, deeply, engagingly and truly."
—Alice Bloom, University of Southern Maine

"...meaningful, and frightening and touching and funny- [His] ear for anecdote is quite luscious."
—Stephanie L. Bravmann, University of Washington

"...an extraordinary book...It took my breath away...What an outstanding work."
—Mary Connor, Pine Manor College

"... a very moving story, exceptionally well depicted."
—Lawrence Wayne Markert, Acting President, Hollins University

"...beautifully constructed and narrated...a great piece of work."
—Evelyne Ender, Professor, University of Washington

"....a gold mine of anecdotes...The chapter on Horowitz...is worth the price of the book."
—Christopher Hyde, Maine Sunday Telegram

"The book is fascinating because it is filled with history, music, family, pain, love, and unanswered questions."
—Jane Wypiszynski, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh