The Skin Above My Knee

De: Marcia Butler

Narrado por: Marcia Butler

The unflinching story of a professional oboist who finds order and beauty in music as her personal life threatens to destroy her.

Music was everything for Marcia Butler. Growing up in an emotionally desolate home with an abusive father and a distant mother, she devoted herself to the discipline and rigor of the oboe, and quickly became a young prodigy on the rise in New York City's competitive music scene.

But haunted by troubling childhood memories while balancing the challenges of a busy life as a working musician, Marcia succumbed to dangerous men, drugs and self-destruction. In her darkest moments, she asked the hardest question of all: Could music truly save her life?

A memoir of startling honesty and subtle, profound beauty, The Skin Above My Knee is the story of a woman finding strength in her creative gifts and artistic destiny. Filled with vivid portraits of 1970's New York City, and fascinating insights into the intensity and precision necessary for a career in professional music, this is more than a narrative of a brilliant musician struggling to make it big in the big city. It is the story of a survivor.

One of 2017's 35 over 35 One of the Washington Post's Top 10 Classical Music Moments of the Year

Reseñas de la Crítica

"A tale of triumph over a childhood rife with abuse, yet blessed with talent. Filled with insight and honesty, [Butler's] memoir flows like a series of gorgeous musical phrases, taking the reader on a journey as uplifting as it is disturbing.... Her courageous memoir is a testament to the power of art to inspire and heal."
—Washington Post

"Marcia Butler's original and lyrically written memoir charts her rise from oboe prodigy to freelance professional on the international classical scene. Transportive portraits of Carnegie Hall concerts share space with memories of childhood trauma and gritty slices from 1970s New York."—New York Magazine

"For Marcia Butler, the oboe was a protective garment and a ticket to the world, though both applications came at a steep price.... The Skin Above My Knee ultimately succeeds because it leaves readers knowing a thing or two about an esoteric world."—Meghan Daum, New York Times Book Review

"Impressive.... [Butler's] imaginative prose fires the senses dramatically. Music aficionados will find an extraordinarily kindred spirit here, and lovers of memoir will find this a sensationally satisfying one."
—Booklist

"A moving account of how passion and creativity can be powerful weapons against neglect, cruelty, and self-harm."—Publishers Weekly

"[Butler] writes lovingly and beautifully.... The light and the dark fight it out in this fierce, fiery memoir."
—Kirkus

"Marcia Butler has written a beautiful memoir -- meticulously nuanced, daringly honest, and utterly inspiring. I'm not sure I've ever read a book that captures so fully the ability music has to transport, sustain, defend and elevate struggling human beings through difficult times."
—Tim Page, Pulitzer Prize winning music critic, The Washington Post, author of Parallel Play and Dawn Powell: A Biography

"Gorgeously written, The Skin Above My Knee takes the reader from the world's most lauded concert venues into the innermost sanctums of musician's lives in New York. Always honest and admirably adverse to self-pity, Marcia Butler's beautiful book cuts its devastating insights with poetic love for the world. My heart broke in several places, and leapt in several others. When I finished reading, I felt as if I understood music on a level usually reserved for world class musicians. Stunning."—Marie-Helene Bertino, author of 2 A.M at The Cat's Pajamas

Exquisite talent

The story isn’t just about developing extraordinary skills and expertise but going along hand in hand with some of life’s most difficult issues to come to terms with. The expression is heart warming and heart wrenching. Well constructed writing sinks the reader into a vivid NYC life of a musician

Lyrical and inspiring. Unforgettable.

This memoir is so much more than a biography. Gorgeously written, poetic and down to earth, heart wrenching and heart warming, full of inspiring tales and lessons learned. The musical passages still float through my mind and soul. The family and romantic sagas are still in my heart. The author's voice is the perfect delivery for this epic yet human story. Unforgettable.

The story of how music saves lives

The arts are a refuge to which all of us escape from our everyday lives. Many of us who have chosen the arts as a career path have done so often to escape our past as if running from a horror show. The sadness in this memoir is profound, but the message that music can be the vehicle to express the sadness and deliver joy has never been more needed or more true.

pointlessly depressing

I can't see why to write such a thing. it is depressing, filled with pain and wrong choices. it ends with a sensation of waisted lives. avoid it, if you can

Sad, monotone

It was a struggle to get through but I wanted to finish it. I spent the whole book hoping it would pick up and it never did. The readers voice was very monotonous and annoying especially when she's pretending to be her childhood self but she sounds like she's 50. She has a very pessimistic, sometimes entitled outlook that never really changes. I can usually find a way to relate to most books but this one I just couldn't; I think it was her attitude and voice.