Overview

Harry Abley was a nightmare of a father: depressive, self-absorbed, unpredictable, emotionally unstable. He was also a dream of a father: gentle, courageous, artistically gifted. Mark Abley, his only child, grew up in the shadow of music and mental illness. How he came to terms with this divided legacy, and how he learned to be a man in the absence of a traditional masculine role model, are central to this beautifully written memoir. This extraordinary story will speak to all those who love music, who struggle with depression, or who wrestle with the difficult bonds of love between a parent and a child. Praise for The Organist: ""A wise and haunting book."" —Martha Baillie, author of The Search for Heinrich Schlögel ""The Organist is a rich and wonderful book, a deeply insightful and moving story of a family's journey through the 20th century….Abley's tale is fearless in its revelations, yet also loving, funny, and beautifully told."" —Ronald Wright, author of A Scientific Romance and A Short History of Progress ""'What does a life add up to?' This question is central to Mark Abley's haunting family memoir, The Organist. Both expansive in the themes it raises and intimate in details required to bring those themes to life, it's a question that draws on Abley's talents as a remarkably clear and thoughtful writer. In The Organist, he ventures bravely into territory that is, for almost everyone, mysterious: what our parents were like before we, their children, became (so we like to imagine) central to their lives. What this compelling book makes clear is that what we don't know about them is often what we don't know about ourselves."" —David Macfarlane, author of The Danger Tree ""Beautiful, tender, and raging, The Organist comes from where the best writing usually does—deep emotion affirmed by hard-won experience of how humans are in their relationships, and in their own hearts. It has taken Mark Abley nearly a lifetime to produce the book of his life. Not a moment too late, or too soon"" —Charles Foran, author of Mordecai: The Life & Times

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9780889775817

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Reviews

Is it possible for a son to accurately portray his own father? This is one of many questions explored by Mark Abley in his fascinating and deeply moving memoir The Organist , his unflinching coming to terms with the solitude, failures, successes, and death of his father. Told with sorrow, humour, and an infectious hunger to know the 'real' Harry Abley, this is a wise and haunting book not to be missed. - Martha Baillie, author of The Search for Heinrich Schloegel The Organist is a rich and wonderful book, a deeply insightful and moving story of a family's journey through the 20th century and across the Atlantic. The limelight is on Mark Abley's withdrawn yet brilliant father, a virtuoso organist and composer whose passion led him from cinema Wurlitzers to the great cathedral instruments of Europe. At the same time it illuminates a father and son, each highly gifted in their different fields, and the women they love. Both men are prone to melancholy and to harsh judgments, especially of themselves. Abley's tale is fearless in its revelations, yet also loving, funny, and beautifully told. - Ronald Wright, author of A Scientific Romance and A Short History of Progress What does a life add up to? This question is central to Mark Abley's haunting family memoir, The Organist . Both expansive in the themes it raises and intimate in details required to bring those themes to life, it's a question that draws on Abley's talents as a remarkably clear and thoughtful writer. In The Organist , he ventures bravely into territory that is, for almost everyone, mysterious: what our parents were like before we, their children, became (so we like to imagine) central to their lives. What this compelling book makes clear is that what we don't know about them is often what we don't know about ourselves. - David Macfarlane, author of The Danger Tree A wise and haunting book. Martha Baillie, author of The Search for Heinrich Schloegela

Is it possible for a son to accurately portray his own father? This is one of many questions explored by Mark Abley in his fascinating and deeply moving memoir The Organist , his unflinching coming to terms with the solitude, failures, successes, and death of his father. Told with sorrow, humour, and an infectious hunger to know the 'real' Harry Abley, this is a wise and haunting book not to be missed. - Martha Baillie, author of The Search for Heinrich Schloegel The Organist is a rich and wonderful book, a deeply insightful and moving story of a family's journey through the 20th century and across the Atlantic. The limelight is on Mark Abley's withdrawn yet brilliant father, a virtuoso organist and composer whose passion led him from cinema Wurlitzers to the great cathedral instruments of Europe. At the same time it illuminates a father and son, each highly gifted in their different fields, and the women they love. Both men are prone to melancholy and to harsh judgments, especially of themselves. Abley's tale is fearless in its revelations, yet also loving, funny, and beautifully told. - Ronald Wright, author of A Scientific Romance and A Short History of Progress What does a life add up to? This question is central to Mark Abley's haunting family memoir, The Organist . Both expansive in the themes it raises and intimate in details required to bring those themes to life, it's a question that draws on Abley's talents as a remarkably clear and thoughtful writer. In The Organist , he ventures bravely into territory that is, for almost everyone, mysterious: what our parents were like before we, their children, became (so we like to imagine) central to their lives. What this compelling book makes clear is that what we don't know about them is often what we don't know about ourselves. - David Macfarlane, author of The Danger Tree A wise and haunting book. Martha Baillie, author of The Search for Heinrich Schloegela Beautiful, tender, and raging, The Organist comes from where the best writing usually doesdeep emotion affirmed by hard-won experience of how humans are in their relationships, and in their own hearts. It has taken Mark Abley nearly a lifetime to produce the book of his life. Not a moment too late, or too soon Charles Foran, author of Mordecai: The Life & Times

Author Information

Mark Abley is a Rhodes Scholar, a Guggenheim Fellow, a winner of Canada’s National Newspaper Award, and the first Canadian recipient of the LiberPress Prize for international writers. He has written six books of non-fiction, four collections of poetry, and two children’s books. Mark lives in Pointe Claire, QC.  

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