I like this book a lot. I think it's kind of rare to read an autobiography by someone who did so many stupid things and is completely willing to be up front about them. It's also kind of nice, for a change, to read a book by a junkie who doesn't try to foist the blame for that off on someone else - and a junkie musician who doesn't try to blame the collapse of his career on anyone other than himself. That kind of honesty is wonderfully refreshing. I also appreciate getting some understanding of where the music I listen to comes from, and, in between the fascinatingly (and horrifyingly) detailed descriptions of life in San Quentin, there are some equally fascinating descriptions of what the scene that produced a lot of my favourite records was like. Probably not a book for the faint of heart, but then again I've read worse. The quality of the text is excellent - his wife, Laurie, did a terrific job transcribing the taped interviews and keeping the tone authentic; I also really like the way she interspersed the bits by Art and his friends and family with old articles from
Down Beat. It's a very well crafted book.
It wouldn't make much sense to read a book about a musician without hearing some of his music. I recommend checking these records out:
Playboys (1956) [with Chet Baker]
Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section (1957)
Art Pepper +Eleven (1959)
Straight Life (1979) [
title track on youtube]
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