The Pianist The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945

<p><b>The memoir that inspired Roman Polanski's Oscar-winning film, which won the Cannes Film Festival's most prestigious prize—the Palme d'Or.</b><br><br><b> Named one of the Best Books of 1999 by the <i>Los Angeles Times</i> </b><br><br>On September 23, 1939, Wladyslaw Szpilman played Chopin's Nocturne in C-sharp minor live on the radio as shells exploded outside—so loudly that he couldn't hear his piano. It was the last live music broadcast from Warsaw: That day, a German bomb hit the station, and Polish Radio went off the air.<br><br>Though he lost his entire family, Szpilman survived in hiding. In the end, his life was saved by a German officer who heard him play the same Chopin Nocturne on a piano found among the rubble. Written immediately after the war and suppressed for decades, <i>The Pianist </i>is a stunning testament to human endurance and the redemptive power of fellow feeling.</p>