Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945

Title: Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945 Author: Wladyslaw Szpilman ISBN: 9780312311353 Publisher: Picador Published: 2002 Binding: Paperback Language: English Publisher Description: Named one of the Best Books of 1999 by the "Los Angeles Times," "The Pianist "is now a major motion picture directed by Roman Polanski and starring Adrien Brody ("Son of Sam"). "The Pianist" won the Cannes Film Festival's most prestigious prize--the Palme d'Or. On September 23, 1939, Wladyslaw Szpilman played Chopin's Nocturne in C-sharp minor live on the radio as shells exploded outside--so loudly that he couldn't hear his piano. It was the last live music broadcast from Warsaw: That day, a German bomb hit the station, and Polish Radio went off the air. Though he lost his entire family, Szpilman survived in hiding. In the end, his life was saved by a German officer who heard him play the same Chopin Noct