Straight Life: The Story Of Art Pepper
by Art Pepper, Laurie Pepper
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Book Summary Information
Author: Art Pepper, Laurie PepperEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1994-03-22
ISBN: 0306805588
Number of pages: 616
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Book Reviews of Straight Life: The Story Of Art Pepper
Book Review: Impossible To Put Down
Summary: 5 Stars
I just finished this book, and would already place it in my all-time Top Ten Greatest Books List. This book is mesmerizing from start to finish. He doesn't say as much about the actual art of jazz as I would have liked, but reading "Straight Life" is like reading a film noir from mid-20th century L.A. Proof that truth is stranger than fiction.
Art Pepper was a complete and total racist (he grew up in Watts, but blames black people for A) kicking him out of Watts, and B) their attitudes, which "turned" him into a racist). He was a junkie almost from day one, and used drugs literally until the end of his life. But if you've ever owned an Art Pepper CD, you also know that he was one of the greatest to ever pick up a saxophone.
Pepper's accounts of his time in San Quentin Prison (where he spent much of the 1960s) are unreal. After he got out, he became even more addicted to drugs, then joined a SoCal drug rehab center in 1969, which can be best described as a cult. Clearly, they didn't know what they were doing in those days to treat drug addiction. He also made some of his best music in the late 70s and early 80s, right before he died, which is a minor miracle.
He should have called the book Sad Life, because in the end that's what it was. His own mother didn't even want him, and tried to kill her unborn child through excessive drinking, drugs and smoking. He really didn't have much of a home life, which doesn't excuse his later actions, but it makes his escape from that life a true miracle. Basically, he had nothing going for him but his God-given ability to blow a horn beautifully.
It's hard to reconcile his life with the fact that he was an incredible saxophone player. In the end, this book really made me angry because he had so much talent and completely threw it all away. But he was also a guy who was truly afraid of success and would rather be in prison than a major star. That made me sad. His CDs have now taken on a completely new meaning for me, one that I am not sure I like.
Again, I just finished it and it is obviously sticking with me. Clearly, I am moved enough to get on this site and write about it. Top Ten for sure. Wow.
Summary of Straight Life: The Story Of Art Pepper
Art Pepper (1925–1982) was called the greatest alto saxophonist of the post-Charlie Parker generation. But his autobiography, Straight Life, is much more than a jazz book—it is one of the most explosive, yet one of the most lyrical, of all autobiographies. This edition is updated with an extensive afterword by Laurie Pepper covering Art Pepper?s last years, and a complete and up-to-date discography by Todd Selbert.
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