Word: bechstein
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There is the mystery of the hero's sexuality. Is Art Bechstein, who is graduating from college as the novel opens, heterosexual or homosexual? Both or neither...
...Bechstein's girlfriend, Phlox, works in a library. Bechstein's boyfriend, Arthur, works in the same library. At one point, Bechstein confronts both of them, and offers: "I love you, Phlox. And I love you, Arthur." For as long as he is able--and Phlox and Arthur make it increasingly difficult--Bechstein straddles the sexual fence...
There is the mystery of Bechstein's spiritual state. Which life will become his model, that of his father--a lord of the underworld--or of Cleveland--an insouciant motorcylist? The two sit on opposite ends of Bechstein's spirtual seesaw. His father, head of a numbers racket and prostitution ring, is willing to forget the past in order to enjoy the present, and the world be damned. Cleveland, who would like to get involved in the same underworld life, hangs out at the Cloud Factory--the name he assigns to one of Pittsburgh's omnipresent smokestacks--his thoughts often...
...there are few estates that do not face their annual nightmare of rising damp, falling cornices, skyrocketing repair bills and shrinking rents. These shared threats induce the mood of solidarity fondly guyed by Noel Coward decades ago: "Though if the Van Dycks have to go/ And we pawn the Bechstein Grand,/ We'll stand/ By the Stately Homes of England." As one should, for there is no parallel to the stubborn integrity of their collections among the stripped and much-looted palaces across the Channel...
...sendorfer, which employs 135 craftsmen at its factory in Wiener Neustadt and 100 more in the finishing plant in Vienna, is Cartier of keyboard makers. With European Steinways made in Hamburg, and Bechstein, another grand old veteran, based in Berlin, the Bösendorfer is part of a tiny musical elite: what aficionados consider the triumvirate of pianistic excellence. But in price and - some think - even tone, Bösendorfer has the edge. Its 9-ft. 6-in. grand costs $38,000 (Steinway's largest U.S. model, 8 ft. 11% in., costs $17,220), and its smallest piano...