The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto

The narrative ensemble, which includes the author, is an inspired choice for this production. Their collective talents prove equal to a story with an extensive cast and a magical blend of realism and fantasy. Omniscient narrator Music sets the pace and guides listeners through the captivating tale of an orphan whose guitar, with its magic strings, changes lives as he plays with some of the most celebrated bands of the twentieth century. Wisely, the narrators don't attempt mimicry, yet they manage to effectively portray the voices of some musical icons. As these personalities tell Frankie's story, the narrators' perfect timing and pacing effectively deliver Albom's wonderfully natural dialogue. The fortunate listener who can briefly suspend disbelief will be rewarded with one of this season's true audio gems. M.O.B. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

June 1, 2015

An author of spiritually engaged fiction and nonfiction, Albom is also a successful songwriter/lyricist. Here he blends the spiritual and the musical to tell the story of Frankie Presto, the greatest guitar player the world has ever heard. Fleeing Spain for America with a battered old guitar, he moves from the Forties to the Sixties, affecting everyone and transforming a few, for that old guitar has six magical blue strings, one for each life he manages to set right. With a 1.5 million-copy first printing.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2015
At the funeral of guitar superstar Frankie Presto, who disappeared at the peak of his fame, the Spirit of Music looks back on his life from his birth in a church during the Spanish Civil War to his years as "the next Elvis Presley." In Albom's latest mystical tale (The First Phone Call from Heaven, 2013, etc.), Francisco's mother dies after giving birth. The newborn is rescued by a nun, but she's soon overwhelmed and, Moses-like, casts him adrift in the Mijares River, where he's found by Baffa Rubio's hairless dog. Rubio later runs afoul of Franco's thugs, and Francisco, only 9, is smuggled from Spain on a tramp freighter by El Maestro, his blind guitar instructor. In London, surviving as a busker, Francisco meets Django Reinhardt when the legendary guitarist is on his way to play with Duke Ellington in America. Francisco travels with him, his talent soon to earn international acclaim. Though a guitar virtuoso, Francisco neglects the beloved instrument to become a pop star, joining the glitterati. The moral? "Fame is addictive." Over decades, Francisco meets a litany of musicians, including Roger McGuinn, Burt Bacharach, Tony Bennett, and Paul Stanley of KISS, who reminisce in separate chapters while Music (imagine James Earl Jones reading poetry) spins out Francisco's life story. There are occasional odd descriptive phrases like "with hair the color of dark grapes," but Albom can elicit tears when he writes about loss, and he has fun with you-are-there butterfly-effect anecdotes, as when Francisco tells Hank Williams not to buy a baby blue Cadillac, the car in which he would ride to his death. "All lonely roads lead back to Music" in this sentimental journey that might be a mashup of the lives of shooting stars like Bobby Darin or Ricky Nelson.

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