Pearls and Lotto Tickets

     Pearls Before Breakfast captured my attention from the first paragraph. Who was this man with the violin. Why is he playing "beside a trash basket" in the Metro, and why is the Washington Post writing about him? In the third paragraph, when Gene Weingarten proposes the options each passerby may  have considered when hearing this violinist in the subway, I found myself asking what I would do in that situation.
     Once the reader meets Joshua Bell, Weingarten provides us with detailed background on Bell's life which includes love for his violin. The background of this accomplished young man proves to be fascinating and adds depth to the story.
    The love of Bell's music, or at least the appreciation of it, was felt by the children moreso than the adults. Parents who whisked their rubber-necking children off to the next train have deadlines to meet. And, this is the point Weingarten makes: we're so caught up in our fast-paced lifestyle that we don't have time to appreciate beauty. We even disregard a life lost -- a couple of years past people hurried by an invisible homeless man who lay dead near the escalator.
     The author makes it clear that due to this experiment of a renown violinist playing in the Metro nothing has changed. We may know a little more about Joshua Bell and we may have learned a little more about ourselves, but "These days...lotto ticket sales remain brisk," writes Weingarten. As with all good authors, the story ends with a humorous twist -- Bell awarded the "Avery Fisher prize" for his Flop.
     The article was fascinating, but I felt it dragged at certain moments. While I understand his desire to keep the reader engaged, many of his one line paragraphs, "So, what do you think happened?" and "Hang on. We'll get you some expert help." felt condescending.  In his descriptions of  Bell, Weingarten seemed almost moonstruck -- "He's got a Donny Osmond-like dose of the cutes." This information wasn't pertinent to the piece.
     Having Joshua Bell play in the Metro was ingenious, and Pearls Before Breakfast was expertly written -- certainly deserving of the Pulitzer Prize Weingarten won.