They do not, by and large, sustain their genius into adulthood. “It’s what modern experts would call developmentally appropriate.” Second, most prodigies grow up to be thoroughly unremarkable on paper. “After all, no matter how richly collaborative a bond children forge with grown-up guides, some version of divorce is inevitable,” Hulbert writes. But they have a couple of things in common, as Ann Hulbert’s meticulous new book, “Off the Charts,” makes clear: First, most wunderkinds eventually experience some kind of schism with a devoted and sometimes domineering parent. I recall being struck at the time by the statement:Ĭhild prodigies are exotic creatures, each unique and inexplicable. Instead, this account is my realization that, setting aside his musical legacy, Mozart was the rarest of birds - he successfully emerged as a fully-functioning adult from a life as a child prodigy raised by a controlling parent.Įarlier this year, Amanda Ripley reviewed Off the Charts, The Hidden Lives and Lessons of American Child Prodigies, by Ann Hulbert, for the NY Times Book Review. This is actually not a review of Peter Gay’s Mozart, which is a very nice, short, well-organized Mozart biography. I picked up a Penguin Lives biography of Wolfgang Mozart at the local library. To prepare for an upcoming trip to Vienna, I’ve begun to read of music.
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