Mike Manderlin is as extraordinary at the piano as he is abysmal at handling life’s daily challenges evidenced by his inability to countenance a trip to a port-o-potty without going into debilitating depression that requires several weeks in bed while listening to motivational podcasts and reading selected passages from the Book of Psalms. While living a life of relative obscurity, Manderlin performs imaginary piano concerts where he transforms his audience with his sublime nocturnes, prompting his listeners to delete their naval-gazing social media accounts and to volunteer at animal shelters and soup kitchens. These chronic fantasies soothe Manderlin’s sense of having succumbed to failed expectations, which he can only escape, he believes, by becoming a renowned entertainer.
His sense of failure is exacerbated when a high school football teammate Erik Simonson becomes a famous comedian. Thinking he and the comedic classmate have an adolescent bond that should be rekindled in their middle age, Manderlin visits the comedian at a local comedy club, but Simonson, surrounded by groveling sycophants, unceremoniously expels Manderlin from his presence and the depressive piano player is forced to confront his shattered dreams.
Complete Short Story "Most Miserable Song"
Comments