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| Plot Summary of But Beautiful |
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"_But Beautiful_ is subtitled "a book about jazz." British writer Dyer concocts intimate portraits of seven famous American jazz musicians -- Lester Young, Thelonius Monk, Bud Powell, Ben Webster, Charlie Mingus, Chet Baker, and Art Pepper -- in the form of short story/slices of their lives, some based on real events, some made up, in a sort of verbal improvisation. The role of racism, violence, women, sex, and drugs is wrapped around these men's lives, as well as the music they create. Dyer is a wonderful prose stylist, writing of women in Paris "wearing crocus dresses," "the curling smoke of Negro speech," and sad music like the moment when a woman's about to cry. The book closes with a long essay about jazz."
David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of But Beautiful |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- thoughtful
Time/era of story
- 1930's-1950's
Life of a profession:
- musician
Inside culture (main char)
- Black
Strong "rags to riches" component?
Yes
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Outside culture (society)
- American American
If story of urban/rural...
- Big city life
Job/Profession/Status story
Yes
Ethnic/regional/gender life
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- musician
Age:
- 20's-30's
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Black
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- society
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 7 (a good amount)
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
- California
City?
Yes
City:
- New York
- Los Angeles
- dangerous
- rude people
Misc setting
- prison
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Unusual Style:
- a lot of stream of consciousness
Amount of dialog
- little dialog
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Click here for more information about this book
Geoff Dyer Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 John Marcel
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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