I was very kindly given an e-ARC of this book via Netgalley and Ebury / Penguin Random House.

Truly a must-read for any fan of Stephen Sondheim, no matter how gentle or die-hard you might be. Reading Schoch's intimately detailed book replicates what it must be like to take one of his classes, exploring a selection of Sondheim's oeuvre - beginning with Gypsy and ending with the unfinished Here We Are - and planting a philosophical eye upon the subjects and stories of each musical. The 'life lessons' that can be learned from each don't necessarily become important as you read. It's more of a jumping off point for the author to analyse the shows themselves, throwing in an anecdote here and there to give evidence to his theses. Certainly, I found the writing leaning more into the academic and at times, it became a little difficult to read, despite the chapters being relatively short and compact.

If anything, this had made me even more eager to listen fully to the Sondheim shows that I'm less familiar with (as of writing: Follies, Assassins, Here We Are, Sunday in the Park with George) and explore all these exciting ideas and thoughts that Schoch brings to this book.

"How Sondheim Can Change Your Life" is available from November 14th.