Straight Life: The Story Of Art Pepper

Many times over the years, I've pulled this book off the shelf and opened it up to any random page and just started reading and was immediately drawn in to the point where I didn't want to put the book down, even though I've read it all the way through a couple of times. It's just that kind of book that grabs you and won't let go. The danger with reading it like that though, is while most of the book is written in Art Pepper's "voice", portions of the book are instead narrated by people who knew Art. These portions have the narrator's name in bold brackets at the beginning of their narrative. So if their narrative runs to a few pages (most are shorter), you might think when you just open it and start on any page that you're reading Art Pepper's words, but you're actually sometimes reading some very insightful observations by people who knew him very well. Still, just opening to any page of the book and reading it is fascinating and fun, especially after you've read it all the way through at least once.This is one of the three best books I've ever read. To me, it is truly a timeless classic. You don't have to know who Art Pepper is. You don't have to be into jazz music. Just sit back and let this gripping story of a great musician and his tragic addictions take you on an unforgettable journey. When the journey is over you'll probably want to check out Art Pepper's music, or maybe the music of some of the others mentioned in the book.I have to say this: Art holds nothing back. This book is not for the faint of heart. There are stories in this book that will wrench you to your very soul. Art was a great musician, but a very flawed man. But he was also very honest. He tells you things about himself in this book that NO man would ever admit to doing -- things that will make some people judge him very harshly. I won't spoil it by being more specific. I will just say that when you're reading this book, no matter how crazy some of the stuff in it is, you know it's the truth because no man would ever tell these things to his wife and to the whole world unless he's just a brutally honest person. We're talking deepest, darkest secrets here.Speaking of Art's wife, Laurie Pepper, who co-authored the book, I can't say enough about the fantastic job she did culling together all of these interviews she did with Art and his acquaintances, relatives, etc., and fashioning it into a very readable book that just flows very nicely from beginning to end. She has also recently published a follow-up to this book called "Art Pepper: Why I Stuck with A Junkie Jazzman". I just bought it but haven't had a chance to read it yet. But after reading "Straight Life" I know I won't be disappointed with her new book. Looks like it's very highly rated here on Amazon, too, just like this book.I honestly think that men will like this book a bit more than women because it's told from a man's standpoint with often crude sexual language that might be offensive to some women. Also, some of Art's exploits and encounters with women will probably be off-putting to some women. But that's one of the book's strengths -- Art is laying it all on the line here and he doesn't care what you think about him. He's not sugar-coating or hiding anything, he's giving you every graphic detail about some of the horrible things he did, mostly as a result of his addiction to drugs. He's putting it all out there and just letting the chips fall where they may. A lot of his music in his later life was like that also.As far as the music itself, I've read at least one review of this book that complained that there's not enough info about Art's music and his thoughts on music here. There's actually a good portion of that here, but it's overshadowed by the larger story of his life. I'm a musician myself, but I wasn't at all disappointed with any lack of music talk because there's plenty of it and because his overall story is so amazing. I think another reviewer said that this book isn't about music -- it's about life. That's so true. I've gained many great insights into life from reading this book.The portions of the book that deal with his various periods of incarceration are simply riveting, but there's so much more that is equally fascinating.Whether you're a jazz fan, or simply a music fan, or someone interested in the study of addiction and addictive behavior, or someone interested in the minute details of being locked up behind bars and what really goes on in jail/prison, this book is a must read. When you finish it you'll probably see the world a bit differently, having seen it through Art Pepper's eyes for awhile.You've just got to read this book. I usually only review CDs. That's how much of an impact "Straight Life" made on me. I just had to share how I felt about it. The only other book I think I've reviewed is Chuck Negron's "Three Dog Nightmare" which is a similar story to Art Pepper's. But that book is about a pop star in one of the most successful groups of all time. As good as that book is, and I highly recommend it, I feel this book is even better.

Compelling, brutally honest and a wild ride.

I discovered jazz music by listening to Willis Conover's jazz program on the Voice of America. But at midpoint in "Straight Life" I found myself wondering about the music that I'd been listening to all these years. To be sure, Art & Laurie Pepper have collected a telling and troublesome account of jazz music from just before WW II until Art Pepper's death in 1982. But it's the jazz musician Art Pepper's own words that provides the most troublesome stuff. Booze consumed his life as much as he consumed it. Soft drugs like marijuana lead to hard drugs like smack (heroin). Pepper even wrote a tune about smack. He recorded the tune on an album called "Smack Up" not too long before he got busted and ended up in San Quentin. Pepper felt so strongly about smack (according to a story he relates early on in the book) that it was the first thing he went looking for when he got out on his first parole. And his second. And then there are all the other people who are junkies or who become junkies because Pepper introduced them to the monkey on his own back. It's the same story, page after page, until I began wondering about the music that had led me to buy the book in the first place, and not because I was that innocent in the first place. I lived through the 60s and had seen my share ruined & curtailed lives. But page after page of smack and the resulting criminal process that supported it for Pepper was just a little too much. I kept waiting for someone to provide intervention. When that one person does show up in Art Pepper's life, he turns her on to cocaine. In the end, and even at the end of his life, the saxophonist who'd played with Stan Kenton and who'd worked in music clinics with high school kids couldn't find anything within himself to keep away from drugs. When Pepper's third wife and co-author, Laurie, tells him that the doctor is going to order some pain killers for his last moments, Art's last words were "It's about time." Time enough to look for the last fix, time enough to run out of time at the age of 57. Which is a time too damn soon in a life, a creative life, too sadly wasted. Reading "Straight Life" was enough to make me think about putting away the alto sax that my son had given me last Christmas. Not to mention the records & tapes (and later, CDs) that I'd collected since I first heard Willis Conover's voice and the music he played on the Voice of America all those years ago. That's because this book is not for the faint of heart. This is a very troubling book to read. Should you buy it? Yes, if you want to get to the belly of the beast, if you want to learn about the basest nature of the human ability to delude oneself, if you have enough guts to say "Enough!" Yes if you want to know about the music. But if you have the least twinge of pain from reading about drugs & sex & a man who simply couldn't look himself in the mirror and say "enough," find something else to read.

This is an incredible tale of falling into the clutches of drug addiction, and never quite making it back. Pepper is an amazing story teller, and he takes you from the heights of jazz fame to the depths of junkie life, prison, and a cult-like rehab center. It's truly amazing he was as productive as he was musically considering what a wreck his life was. Fascinating book! Like a train wreck, you can't quite look away.

Superb and brutally frank account of a junkie lifestyle in post war America. Indispensable for jazz fans certainly, but shows definitively that creativity can work in many mediums; here as both inventive drug-user and latterly, confessional author. While simultaneously carving out a career as a world-class alto saxophonist on the side! Extraordinary, oddly life-affirming, very human and ultimately moving. Highly recommended.

Intriguing autobiography.Essential reading for Art Pepper fans

Fantastic read. Really felt the guy's pain and joy.

Went well with Art Pepper 12 Classic albums as a gift!

exellent