“The Entertainer”

“The Entertainer” begins as an improbable musical revelation in Zhang’s family and becomes the soundtrack of an everyday routine. Its changing meaning—from evidence of a gift to a song Kwan cannot bear—rests on the same fact: Zhang plays it again and again.

A Surprising First Performance

When Zhang was seven, he sat down at the piano and played “The Entertainer,” from the old movie The Sting. The performance seemed to come from nowhere: nobody in his family had seen the film, and his first-generation immigrant parents listened only to European classical music. Yet Zhang played the piece remarkably well.

A Gift Encouraged

The performance made Zhang’s parents happy and proud. Kwan recalled that they had usually felt ashamed of Zhang’s condition and had not known how to help him; the unexpected musical talent gave them something to encourage. They hired a piano teacher who specialized in teaching children with special needs, making the song the beginning of a deliberate effort to support Zhang’s gift.

Repetition and Changed Meaning

That encouragement had an unintended domestic soundtrack. Zhang played no classical or jazz repertoire: as Kwan put it, “He plays ‘The Entertainer.’ Over and over and over. Every fucking day of his life.” During every call home, Kwan heard his brother banging out the tune in the background, until the once-impressive performance had become a source of exasperation. Asked whether Zhang played classical or jazz, Kwan’s answer reduced the story to its comic, persistent refrain: “I hate that song.”