I just finished reading a small book, 216 pages but the pages are small in size, that spoke so strongly to my heart I had to share it here. It is 
called “The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness,” by Joel ben Izzy. The author is a professional story teller so there are, as one would expect, beautiful stories drawn from many ethnic groups included as touchstones to each chapter. Joel loses his voice, his very ability to speak, due to surgery and much of the book deals with his ‘dark night of the soul’ without his speaking Voice.
Of course this was very personal to me since I have been grappling with the loss of my singing Voice for over a year now due to a problem with my larynx. One story he relates is about a performance by Itzhak Perlman, the violinist, in 1995. Just as he begins playing in a concert at Avery Fisher Hall a string breaks on his violin. The audience expects to have to wait until he is able to replace the broken string. Instead, he dazzles them all by playing passionately and flawlessly through the concert with only three strings. Afterwards he said, “You know, sometimes it is the artist’s task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left . . .”
I think the book has universal appeal, even for those who have not suffered the loss of their Voice — as we all suffer losses of one kind or another.
This is a beautiful, authentic jewel of a story book. Anne Lamott says is ” . . . a blessing, funny, brilliant, wise.” I couldn’t agree more.
Thanks for this lovely post and recommendation for the book. I reminds me of the story of concert pianist Leon Fleisher’s story. He had significant issues with one hand and had to play concerts with one hand for many years. turns out there is actually repertoire for one hand. It was big news in Massachusetts when he played his first concert after many years of one-handed playing. I heard him that year at Tanglewood.