Soloist Numero Uno

The Soloist is told in the first person point of view of a reporter trying to find a story in Nathaniel Ayers, an African American homeless musician he encounters on the street one day. Ayers is an alumni of a prestigious music school in NY, Julliard. Lopez is amazed at how an African American kid could triumph through a time when racism was apparent and most of his age group was barely surviving. Lopez attempts to find out any information he can about Ayers and connects with his sister, finds some old friends and acquaintances and writes his article. In response to his article on Ayers, people send him instruments to give to Ayers. Lopez was nervous that Ayers might get mugged with all the instruments attached to his shopping cart, so he convinces him to go to a place called Lamp Community, which offered services to mentally ill homeless people. At first Ayers didn’t like the idea, but he was eager to play his new instruments and that gave him the motivation to go there.

Up to this point, I like the book…it’s different than most stories that I’ve read in the way that it really fits its genre of being a non-fictional inspirational novel and it really gets to the issues of mental illness, racism, homelessness, and unlikely friendships between complete strangers. Most people would walk by homeless people on the street and not even care, so this story kind of opens up your eyes to the world and the few people in it who do the good deed. Steve Lopez writes to inform people about issues that they aren't educated in and wants to get those peoples’ stories across to other people and since he is a reporter, when he tells these stories he tells them in complete detail.