In this book, Bispham refrained from going into many particulars of his artistic career, preferring to give a general survey of its principal points, for his object is not only to interest music lovers by giving them a glimpse into an artist's life, but to provide a stimulus for amateurs who contemplate entering the professional arena, and to show them how necessary it is to have, in the first place, the natural ability, then the inner urge to continue against opposition, and the determination to endure to the end.