Israeli Daniel Barenboim - director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and of the Berlin State Opera - and Palestinian Edward Said - eminent literary critic and leading expert on the Middle East - have been close friends for years. Parallels and Paradoxes is a series of discussions between the two friends about music, politics, literature and society. Barenboim and Said talk about, among other subjects, the differences between writing prose and music; the compromising politician versus the uncompromising artist; Beethoven as the ultimate sonata composer; Wagner; great teachers; and the power of culture to transcend national differences. Parallels and Paradoxes is an affectionate and impassioned exchange of ideas that is deeply informed, profound and yet completely accessible.