Play it Again

Alan Rusbridger

"In this dazzling, dizzying memoir, one of the world's leading newspaper editors tells of learning to play Chopin's formidable Ballade in G Minor against a backdrop of phone hacking and Wikileaks espionage. The day-to-day counterpoint of piano practice and breaking news is a compositional feat in itself: you have the impression of a wide-awake, fearless mind." -- Alex Ross "An absorbing and technically detailed book. Rusbridger is a vivid writer who is able to make the physical experience of playing the piano.very gripping." -- Nicholas Kenyon Times Literary Supplement "In his page-turning diary, Chopin has to make room for Julian Assange, Leveson and the hacking scandal. This charming, nimble, book argues that a life cannot be too rounded nor a day too full." Daily Telegraph "Extraordinary... Simply looked at as a repository of information on how to perform Chopin, the book is invaluable... Much the most interesting aspect of the book, however is in the main intellectual investigation and defence of the amateur...prepare to be inspired." -- Igor Toronyi-Lalic Sunday Telegraph "Play It Again is based on Rusbridger's diaries and in pianistic terms is a two-handed one, one part being an account of the travails of learning the Ballade, the other chronicling a feverish journalistic year... The point of the exercise was never to play like a professional but to relish being an amateur. In this sense his book is affirmatory... 4 stars" -- Michael Prodger Mail on Sunday

Extraordinary... Prepare to be inspired Sunday Telegraph