The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom

Born under devastating circumstances, Frankie’s life starts as a whirlwind. He is birthed in a burning building, abandoned as an infant and then raised by his music teacher. Luckily, Frankie is endowed with the gift of music, and is a real natural. He ends up becoming a worldwide sensation, with his one-of-a-kind blue stringed guitar at his side. Along the way, he connects with all the greats – Duke Ellington, Tony Bennett, Hank Williams and even Elvis, just to name a few. But troubled by his sordid past, Frankie ends up dropping out of the music scene to come to terms with it.

This book was a real page turner. Each of Frankie’s encounters with musicians and friends along the way were super engaging, so I found I couldn’t get enough. The back story of Frankie’s life was well established, making his life’s decisions easy to understand as the story played out.

Mitch Albom is an author, journalist, playwright and musician. His novels have been extremely successful, selling over forty million copies worldwide. Seven of his books have gone on to become number one New York Times bestsellers. Mitch lives in Detroit, with his wife, Janine.