The Death of David Debrizzi

The Death of David Debrizzi is an entertaining novel. It's written as a series of counterpoint letters, with Pierre La Valoise quibbling with Sir Geoffrey's biography of their shared precocious piano student (David Debrizzi). The two have been competing over Debrizzi for years.

La Valoise is an over-the-top character; his voice is both fun and funny to read. It is his character that comes through most strongly. Sir Geoffrey is also well-drawn, though very minimal extracts from the biography he is supposed to have written. However, the other characters are largely forgettable; there are no decent or even interesting female characters; and (I concede it's possibly intentional) Debrizzi remains a cipher. Intentional or not, this made it show more hard for me to care very much, and I got a bit tired of the book towards the end.

There are some very effective sections on the relationship between teacher and pupil, and about how the teacher's experiences shape their advice and guidance. show less

Rival biographers may prove as antagonistic as biographer and subject. Paul Micou’s novel, The Death of David Debrizzi, consists of a series of letters written by Pierre La Valoise, one of the two mentors of Debrizzi, a young concert pianist, to the other, who has published a biography of Debrizzi. La Valoise calls the other's work, `Your increasingly arrogant and self-serving volume', and writes, `I have set myself the task of clearing up the errors in your Life’ -- and does so, chapter by chapter. Micou’s novel is truly a biographical counterblast.