Reviews
So thorough, gripping and well-written that once the pages start to turn, you're hooked … a journalistic gem." — Jason Koransky , Down Beat, Splendid, fascinatingly thorough … a book that remains a page-turner long after it's obvious what's coming next." — K. Leander Williams , Time Out New York, Definitive … a haunting prose poem that's every bit as affecting as one of Baker's solos." — Entertainment Weekly -- A" rating, "So thorough, gripping and well-written that once the pages start to turn, you're hooked ... a journalistic gem." --Jason Koransky, Down Beat, "Splendid, fascinatingly thorough ... a book that remains a page-turner long after it's obvious what's coming next." --K. Leander Williams, Time Out New York, Superb … unerring … a stark, troubling portrait of both the artist and his times." — Publisher's Weekly, "Savagely honest ... impeccably researched, elegantly written." -- Joel Selvin , San Francisco Chronicle, "Almost unbearably vivid ... James Gavin has brought us as close as life to his subject." -- David Hajdu, New York Times Book Review, Definitive … a haunting prose poem that's every bit as affecting as one of Baker's solos." — Entertainment Weekly – A" rating, Savagely Honest … Impeccably Researched, Elegantly Written." — Joel Selvin , San Francisco Chronicle, "Gripping ... fascinating ... brings Baker's personality vividly to life ... resonates on a level far deeper than most biographies of musicians." -- Carlo Wolff, Boston Globe, "Splendid, fascinatingly thorough ... a book that remains a page-turner long after it's obvious what's coming next." -- K. Leander Williams , Time Out New York, "So thorough, gripping and well-written that once the pages start to turn, you're hooked ... a journalistic gem." -- Jason Koransky , Down Beat, "Savagely honest ... impeccably researched, elegantly written." --Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle, "Superb ... unerring ... a stark, troubling portrait of both the artist and his times." -- Publisher's Weekly, "Definitive ... a haunting prose poem that's every bit as affecting as one of Baker's solos." -- Entertainment Weekly - "A" rating, "A landmark in entertainment biography." -- Tony Gieske , Hollywood Reporter "A hair-raising, chilling, and always fascinating look at a tortured musician who became an American myth ... Gavin has delivered a masterful look at him." --Terry Perkins, St. Louis Post-Dispatch "The most well-rounded, clear-eyed portrait of the trumpeter ever put to paper ... the definitive bio of Baker." -- Christopher Porter, JazzTimes "A pitch-perfect, informed and engrossing character and cultural study . . . Gavin deserves a curtain call." -- Alan Bisbort, Hartford Advocate "I honor the patience, the method, and the fidelity of James Gavin's book." -- David Thomson , New Republic "First-rate . . . Scrupulous to the end . . . [Gavin] coolly documents the man, his art, and the mysterious and powerful hold both still have on jazz fans and what might be called students of American celebrity culture." -- William Corbett, Boston Phoenix "Potent . . . A well-written and balanced biography . . . Gavin transcends the clip-job form biographies often take." -- Howard Cohen, New Herald (Miami) "The Baker presence emerges vividly from James Gavin's new, painstakingly documented biography." -- Rockford Register Star "Riveting . . . abounds in useful insights." -- Peter Vacher, Coda "Thorough and compulsively readable." -- Jack Batten, Toronto Star "A hair-raising account ... it should attract anyone interested in a cautionary tale well-told." -- Greg Delaney, Independent "Chet Baker's story is a harrowing, twisted fairytale of music and mayhem, and James Gavin reveals its terrors and triumphs superbly." -- Andrew Vine, Yorkshire Post "A black comedy of bad behaviour . . . pure Joe Orton . . . [written] with a diligence and insight with which not even the most puritanical jazz purist could find fault." -- Kenneth Wright, Sunday Herald (UK) "The best possible introduction to Chet Baker, that American tragedy." -- Amiri Abaki, Valor (Brazil) "Free of moralizing or empty musicology--yet without forsaking careful, parsimonious stylistic analysis--Gavin's book is an act of artistic love and intellectual honesty, written with the fluency and drama of a novel." -- Paolo Russo, La Repubblica "A monumental and informed biography . . . told by Gavin in the finest detail." -- Ernesto Assante, La Repubblica "A monumental biography . . . a story reconstructed with precision and accuracy . . . writing with a fluidity of style that lies halfway between a novel and journalistic investigation." -- Helmut Failoni, Il Manifesto "An extraordinary and monumental biography." -- Mirella Seni, La Stampa