Presenting Author: Lisa Genova

[Prof. Kendra Givens]

Name of the author: Lisa Genova
Main genre: Fiction, Neuroscience
Main audience: Young Adult/Adult

Novels: Every Note Played, Still Alice, Left Neglected, Love Anthony, Inside the O'Briens

Blurb about author: Lisa Genova has a degree in Biopsychology and a PhD in Neuroscience. Her novel Still Alice is likely her most well known and was adapted into a film. She has a TED talk entitled 'What You Can Do To Prevent Alzheimer's' that has been viewed over 4 million times. She has also won multiple awards, including the Alzheimer's Association's Rita Hayworth Award and the Huntington’s Disease Society of America Community Awareness Award. Her novels all involve someone who is experiencing a disease affecting the brain, whether it be a traumatic brain injury, ALS, Alzheimer's, or something else. You should check out her website for more information!

The novel I read was her newest, Every Note Played. She managed to make me cry several times as she described the life of a prolific and famous piano player whose body slowly deteriorates due to ALS. Much of her story is told through music metaphors, and the depth of her glance into his life, past and present, is incredible. I felt like I was experiencing everything in each character's shoes right along with them. I'd recommend to anyone who enjoys literature that tears at your heartstrings.