Product Description "Four Guitars (More or Less)" is about the author's experience of picking up the acoustic guitar once again after a 28 year break spent on raising a family and building a career.  The book is part memoir and part exposition.  The author explores the differences and similarities of 4 luthier built acoustic guitars first hand and then in the hands of others in a series of "guitar tastings".  The book is both journey and homage as the author learns the guitar from a new perspective and with a deeper appreciation than in his youth.   Guitar tastings bring the experience and insight of players of all stripes into the mix and conversations with the luthiers provide a look into the guitar from its builders point of view.  At the heart of all of this is the role of music as distraction, a challenge, a source of solace, peace and deeply personal pleasure. From the Author Writing "Four Guitars (More or Less)" was as much a journal of a trip as it was anything else.  The trip arced from picking up an inexpensive guitar after nearly 30 years to learning from and laying with some very accomplished musicians and playing some very fine guitars. Along the way some guitars were bought and sold, some lessons learned and old friendships rekindled.  The conversations with really talented musicians and luthiers who balance art and craft into instruments that can seem to come alive brought the guitar into an entirely new focus and hopefully the book is about that experience. And creating music became part of my life once again.  In the end the book is about the relationships that sometimes happen where fine instruments, thoughtful musicians and a little space intersect at just the right time. From the Back Cover Four Guitars (More or Less) is part memoir and part exposition of the modern handmade acoustic guitar.  Like so many baby boomers the author took up playing the guitar again after several decades only to discover the instrument all over again but with a deeper and richer appreciation than in his youth.  the book chronicles the relearning to play music but really discovering the guitar for the first time.  In searching for variation in guitars caused by different combinations of musical woods the author embarks on a series of guitar tastings among guitar players than reveal more than expected.  The lessons go beyond the melody and tempo lessons to more subtle appreciations of the relationships between players and their instruments, the beauty and character of handcrafted instruments and the luthiers that build them.  In the end the book is an appreciation of the guitar in general and the relationship with four guitars (more or less) in particular.