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Synopsis Of The Book 'The Soloist' By Steve Lopez

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The Soloist by Steve Lopez is the true story of Mr. Steve Lopez, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, and his journey to move a stranger-turned-friend off the streets and into a place where he can get the help he needs and be able to flourish as the talented musician he is. The star of the book, Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, is a 54 year old homeless musician with a mental illness. Nathaniel (or Mr. Ayers later in the book) uses music as something to ground him, to calm him down and bring him back to reality. This book brings into light various topics that most people prefer not to think about (homelessness, mental illnesses, etc.) and shows how music can aide anyone in tough times. It is common knowledge that music helps the soul. Music can make …show more content…

It shows no mercy and often arrives like an unexpected storm, dropping an endless downpour on young dreams” (225-226). As previously mentioned, Mr. Ayers has a mental illness. It is believed that he has schizophrenia. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, symptoms of schizophrenia include (but are not limited to) hallucinations, delusions, disordered thinking, and trouble focusing or paying attention. Most people with schizophrenia continue to suffer chronically or episodically throughout their lives. Even between bouts of active illness, lost opportunities for careers and relationships, stigma, residual symptoms, and medication side effects often affect those with the illness. Mr. Ayers has exhibited these symptoms and more throughout the book. He once told Mr. Lopez “I can’t survive…if I can’t hear the orchestra the way I like to hear it” (128). This is an example of the disordered thinking that can be attributed to people with schizophrenia. Often, Mr. Ayers would ramble on in a string of sentences that sometimes were seemingly unrelated but rather imaginative like “Putting resin on your bow is like feeding your parakeet. A bow needs resin in the same way a police car needs prisoners” (33). This can be taken as a rather imaginative combination of his life on the streets and his love of music which most people without mental illness would never come up

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