When journalist Steve Lopez sees Nathaniel Ayers playing his heart out on a two-string violin on Los Angeles’ skid row, he finds it impossible to walk away. More than thirty years ago, Ayers was a promising classical bass student at Juilliard—ambitious, charming, and also one of the few African-Americans—until he gradually lost his ability to function, overcome by schizophrenia. Over time, the two men form a bond and Lopez imagines that he might be able to change Ayers’s life. The Soloist is a beautifully told story of devotion in the face of seemingly unbeatable challenges.

STEVE LOPEZ is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, where he first wrote a series of enormously popular columns about Nathaniel Ayers. Lopez, the father of three children, currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife Alison and their daughter, Caroline.