But Beautiful
Geoff Dyer Book Review

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Plot Summary of But Beautiful

"_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

Review Analysis of But Beautiful

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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 ()
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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But Beautiful Geoff Dyer Book Review

But Beautiful
Geoff Dyer Book Review