Customer Reviews

Straight, No Chaser: The Life and Genius of Thelonious Monk

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Attention T.Monk fans! This book has lots of info on Monk. It is written in a very interesting way. Much of the info is from personal interviews, which means that there are many interesting and funny facts and stories. There are some great photographs of Monk with other jazz pioneers such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie etc. It also has a sessionography, index, list of compositions, and videography. A must read.

This book has gotten unjustified bad press. The author accurately captures the "real" T. Monk. She traces Monk's development and commitment to jazz over his career. The author had access to Monk's family (e.g., Toot his drummer son), friends, supporters, and the musicians that knew him. What I particularly like about the book was her treatment of Monk's mysterious pathology. Monk was a very strange guy. Various psychiatrists discounted him being schizophrenic and bipolar. The concensus was that he chemically ruined his brain over the years. He also cultivated an image of eccentricity. During the last six years of his life, he got up, put on a suit and tie (he was always sartorially snappy) and then laid in bed all day. This is a very good book and provided an insightful picture of this eccentric musical genius.

This was an excellent and detailed account of Monk's life. It helped me to understand the man and his music.

Like all the books put together by this author (far too many), this alleged biography of Thelonious Monk is a shallow cut-and-paste mishmash sprinkled with clueless (sometimes senseless) observations that alone reveal a lack of perception. This silly book has no valid place on the shelf of jazz literature.

Leslie Gourse and her team have done a book of merit, an investigation of true achievements, but one that lacks passion, and previous knowledge about the central theme: the life and music of Thelonious Monk. Nevertheless, this book is as close as one can get to the personal life of the high priest of bebop, but not to his musical perspectives. The author misses her point absolutly in avoiding a serious treatment of the music of one of the true geniuses of american music.