Second Printing for Goodbye Tchaikovsky

Goodbye Tchaikovsky, a coming of age novel, focuses on the psychological and moral growth of a young violin virtuoso who wakes up on his twelfth birthday deaf.

What motivated me to write such a story? When I was forty-four years-old I awoke to a silent world. Deafened by a rare virus, my ENT specialist said, “The odds of winning the lottery are better than contracting that virus.” He also told me I’d be deaf one day. 

I purchased hearing aids and went back to my sixth-grade classroom. Teaching eleven and twelve-year old children is not easy and became even more difficult with hearing loss. I began the long process of learning American Sign Language (ASL) and passing on basic signs to my students for better classroom communication.

I also wondered what life would have been like if I had lost my hearing when I was in sixth grade. I knew one thing for sure—my life would have been a lot different. 

After the virus returned six years later, fulfilling my doctor’s prediction, I took disability and taught myself to write. My first major project was a book about a violin prodigy. Written in the first person, David Rothman tells his story about hearing loss, learning ASL, and most importantly, the emotional impact deafness had on his life. I consider my novel an emotional autobiography about hearing loss.  

Audiologist Dr. Shahrzad Cohen agrees. “Goodbye Tchaikovsky is a fascinating novel about hearing loss with an emotional component that does not get taught in schools.” Psychotherapist Valerie Stern, LCSW has this to say about the novel: “This book would be an eye-opener for hearing people. As for me, if I had the chance to read it when I began losing my hearing at the age of sixteen, it would have given me hope, comfort, and inspiration. I would recommend this book to any young adult or teenager who is going through hearing loss or another disability.”

Goodbye Tchaikovsky was first published in 2012 by Royal Fireworks Press, a New York publisher. They re-released the novel exactly eight years later on World Hearing Day. In an email to their constituents, the publisher wrote, “Royal Fireworks Press is pleased to reissue the novel Goodbye Tchaikovsky, a poignant tale about David’s journey through his teen years as he navigates the difficulties of being handicapped in a hearing world.”

During its first printing, Goodbye Tchaikovsky won awards. It came in 2nd Place in the Royal Dragonfly Book Awards, Young Adult Fiction, and it won Honorable Mention in the Paris Book Festival and Hollywood Book Festival. 

The best place to purchase the novel is through the publisher which offers the lowest price. The book sells for up to $15.00 per copy, but the publisher will only charge you $10.00 plus shipping costs.