This book by Malcolm Boyd is truly insightful. Death and dealing with different deaths are the main focuses, but the book weaves a tapestry that is neither simple nor surface. This book is not only for the elderly and is recommended reading for everyone.

The title and the alphabetical format of this book seems uninspiring, but actually it is a veritable treasure. It has an excellent article or entry on almost anything you might wonder about Bach, and the format lets you just to look up the issue alphabetically. The appendices also ease the effort-- there is a thematic list of all entries, a BWV list with years, a text list of the first lines of all arias/choruses, first performance dates of cantatas... The tone of the book is scholarly but very readable.

So if you have ever wondered what was the trumpet like in Bach's day, the real meaning of well-tempered, who P.D.Q. Bach is, what did Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg do with the concertos, you need to get this book. Indispensable for anyone who has been bitten by the Bach bug; it will appeal to the starter and the expert alike.

Prayers For The Later Years by Malcolm Boyd (Episcopal Priest and Poet/Writer in Residence, The Cathedral Center of St. Paul, Los Angeles, California) is a selection of deeply spiritual Christian prayers written especially for the aging generation of readers. Each page presents a different prose or poetry passage addressed to Jesus Christ, containing within the authors heartfelt love for God and gentle acceptance of the difficulties of getting older. A tender, reverently devotional book, Prayers For The Later Years is enthusiastically recommended reading, especially for seniors.

Boyd is a prayer genius. Contemporary, real, dynamic, heartfelt words capture the day to day dilemmas and situations we all face. In each prayer he speaks to Jesus, inviting Him into the situation, the difficulty, the uncertainty, the worldly problem. With a forward written by Lutheran historian, Martin E. Marty and an afterword by Lutheran Bishop, Paul Wennes of Southern California, who both give this prayer book high praise for addressing real conflicts, doubts, fightings and fears, I can not recommend this book strongly enough. "It's bumper to bumper, and the traffic is stalled" is my favorite prayer (page 10) or try "I am seated inside a theater" (page 50). What a powerful gift God has given us in the words of Malcolm Boyd who is still running with Jesus.

This is not a bad introduction to the life and music of J.S. Bach, however it is nowhere as well written or informative as Christoph Wolff's biography. I found myself falling to sleep reading Boyd, but the Wolff kept me interested all the way. Wolff also presents the death of Bach's parents as a much more central experience, which I found Boyd tended to place less significance on. This is not a poor book, it is just that the Wolff bio is so much better.

Bach scholarship was turned upside down in the 1950s by the acceptance of new scholarship by Alfred Durr and Georg Dadelsen which established a new chronology and authenticity for Bach's music. It took about 30 years for Bach biography to catch up and digest the implications of the new discoveries. Bach biographies published before 1960 are frequently inaccurate in many details, and this include Spitta's famous 3 volume study. Of the recent books on Bach, Professor Boyd's book is one of the very best and the place for anyone with an interest in Bach to start their exploration of his life and work.

This book provides an analyical and important summary of the greatest of all 18th century composers. Boyd succeeds in providing the life of Bach in context with the musical conditions of 18th century Germany, but adds his own perspective as seen from the end of the 20th century. I found this book most enjoyable, along the likes of other biographies of Bach, including Spitta and Schweitzer. To be added to the Bach Plucked! web site's recommended reading list.

Michael Stitt

I found this book to be a poorly disguised sermon. Disguised as what, I'm not sure. A novel? No, there was only a vague attempt at one character who changed or morphed throughout the book in order to deliver the stale sermon. There was no plot, the ideas were simplistic and obvious and the author's attempt at creativity only muddled his point (if there was one) and caused confusion. Sadly, I do not recommend this book. If this book were a movie, I would have walked out in the middle and asked for my money back.