But Beautiful: A Book About Jazz

Summary

Like Michael Ondaatje's Coming Through Slaughter, But Beautiful takes a fictionalised look at jazz. Divided into seven sections each covering a different legendary jazz figure, it uses historical details, photographs and music to paint the self-destruction and inspiration behind genius. Short vignettes of Duke Ellington and Harry Carney's famous between-gig road trips are interspersed throughout. It concludes with a seven-part analysis of jazz styles and influences that reads more like conventional music criticism.

Reception

The book is one of Dyer's most acclaimed works. Pianist Keith Jarrett said it was:

"The only book about jazz that I have recommended to my friends. It is a little gem with the distinction of being 'about' jazz rather than 'on' jazz. If closeness to the material determines a great solo, Mr. Dyer's book is one."

In The New York Times Book Review, critic Ralph Blumenthal wrote, "Like the music he evokes so lyrically, Geoff Dyer's But Beautiful, a quasi-biographical critique of nine jazz legends, relies heavily on improvisation. You don't have to be a jazz buff to savor this book—but you may be one when you're done." In The New York Times, critic Richard Bernstein discussed the book's "electrifying, typically gemlike passages of criticism," and called the work, "marvelously lyrical."

Awards

The book was one of the winners of a 1992 Somerset Maugham Award.

Jazz musicians covered

Duke Ellington and Harry Carney

Lester Young

Thelonious Monk

Bud Powell

Ben Webster

Chet Baker

Art Pepper

Charles Mingus