Life Ain't Kind is a book for serious readers who want something more sophisticated than The Catcher in the Rye. Nathan Cosgray is a talented violinist / pianist who becomes infatuated with the composer Gustav Mahler after his brother and parents suddenly die when he is just a teenager. Nat finds himself all alone and unprepared for life. Instead of making it to Carnegie Hall, his world is turned upside down by bad decisions and bad fate. His is a long, difficult journey that has a perplexing ending.