Brief Summary Of But Beautiful By Geoff Dyer

Geoff Dyer’s book, But Beautiful, is an odd book that blends factual events and stories in the history jazz and turns them into partly fictional stories about some of the most well respected jazz players of all time. The book is split into different parts. There is one story running through the entire book with 8 short stories in all and an afterwards that talks about the tradition, influence and innovation. In the main portion of the book Geoff talks about Duke Ellington and Harry Carney, Lester Young, Thelonius Monk, Bud Powell, Ben Webster, Charles Mingus, Chet Baker, and Art Pepper carefully weaving the stories together. Geoff Dyer begins his book with Duke Ellington and Harry Carney between gigs driving on the road. This story is given

Dyer does an excellent job on describing how Thelonious Monk plays the piano. He describes it like playing all around the melody and a few other descriptions that seem to hit his style of playing right on the head. The story then takes a turn and begins talking about his mental problems and his dependance on Nellie. His story continues with a time he had a run in with front desk clerk and had a run in with the police. The whole story and description of him really captured how wonderfully unique Monk was. Bud Powell’s story was a bit different than the other two instead of telling a deep long story to try and capture who he was, Dyer took a different approach used his writing to feel more like a tribute to Bud Powell. The story tells of his beating with a nightstick being hospitalized and his psychiatric care and how bad the treatment was. Dyer goes on to talk about his mental stability and recalls a time when a police officer found him and recognized him as Bud Powell. It goes on to talk about Europe and his state. It is written so well it’s almost hard not to evoke a

Dyer uses his writing to paint a picture of a vibrant man who is possibly filled with a bit of rage that always lingers. Mingus becomes a man that is full of passion. It goes on to show his intensity with examples of him yelling at his band members. The story also shows his pleasant side, allowing to see it isn't only anger that fuels him; he’s just full of passion. It goes on to tell about his time in Germany. Dyer is able to capture Mingus as a very animated man who is a musical genius. The next story is about Chet Baker. It begins with a scene of him with his trumpet in nothing but his shorts with a woman. It goes on to talk about his style of play. In one explanation, he compares it to a woman about to cry. After this time with this woman, it goes on to talk about a time he was beaten and his time in Europe. The final story is about Art Pepper and his saxophone playing after he had become a junkie. He gets across Art’s uncertainty in his ability to play the saxophone after being away from it for so long. When he begins to play it is just so beautiful that everyone falls silent. It goes on to show how he tries to come back into his jazz