Book excerpt: "All these aspects of his life and art, including the rigorous training and arduous practice that transformed a blind peasant boy into a superb musician, his lifelong friendship with Olivier Messiaen, his sometimes turbulent family life, and the body of works he left - only J. S. Bach wrote more compositions for the organ - are narrated and analyzed by Ann Labounsky, who is uniquely qualified to write this definitive biography. A favorite Langlais pupil, she was asked by Langlais himself to write it and had his full cooperation for numerous long interviews over many years."--BOOK JACKET.