Personally, this bit destroyed the rest of your piece because it made me fixate on Chopin. All else - Bukowski, Evelyn, Fante, Murakami :) - faded away into obscurity in my mind.

The nocturnes were my gateway drug to Chopin. I'm not kidding when I say I've heard them hundreds of times. I even learned to play the piano and read sheet music just so I could play the nocturnes. Op. 9 No. 1, specifically, took me months due to my poorly-developed skills. I've always been more partial to the No. 1 than the ubiquitous Op. 9 No. 2..

The universe is in Chopin's works, really. When my dad died two years ago, the only thing I heard in my head was the funeral march from Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2. And, for such a melancholy soul, Chopin really could come up with some very uplifting pieces in his waltzes/etudes!

Thanks for taking me down this mental roadtrip!