Beneath the Underdog: His World as Composed by Mingus

I am astonished at how few reviewers seem to "get" this book -- I knew it was a masterpiece, that much is obvious to me -- and it has fueled my love of Charles Mingus and his music to even greater heights than before. But I had no idea it were possible that it could be such a woefully and widely misunderstood masterpiece. To be clear where I'm coming from, I try to concentrate my reading on literature, rather than pulp and garbage, as I have the feeling that life is short and we've only got so much time to try and figure it out. Well, for passionate seekers, this book is literature, and it's far from a waste of time - it is, in fact, a crucial document.Sure, it's got some arguable flaws. He DOES go on about sex to a degree that might get a little tedious time and again. And per his disclaimer, there's plenty in here we won't feel compelled to take as 100% fact - yes, that might include the episode with the 20-plus prostitutes in Tijuana. But Good Lord, if you ever wanted a direct view into the mind of a towering, volcanic personality who was not only a musical genius, but a genius of a kind when it came to life itself, this is your book. Is sex not the stuff of life? Would most of us not wish there were more of it in our own memoirs? One of the most impressive aspects of this book are the speeches and dialogues - whether they are transcriptions from a near-photographic memory, or the artful compositions of a first-rate talent, they scream with authenticity, and provide an absolutely rich, riveting and priceless glimpse into the mind of Black America - and White America, for that matter - in the 20th Century.LIfe lived as hard as it can be lived: master musicians, master pimps, wizened old ladies, mean old bastards, precocious kids, happy-go-lucky wastrels, depressed geniuses, many of them waxing deep and philosophical, in short or at length. Much of it is pithy indeed, bouts of wisdom and foolishness that are at turns equally impressive. Heavy, cutting takes on life from souls who have dived deeper into it than most of us could ever afford to, emerging with some of the most vivid and entertaining commentary on sex, race, religion, death and yes - music - that you'll ever read anywhere. Foremost among them is Mingus himself. While obviously capable of brutal and even cruel behavior, what is most striking is his profound sensitivity, his not-always-present but striking capacity for compassion, his astonishing intellect, his voracious appetite for everything - including an understanding of what the hell life is all about, anyway - and his talent for getting big portions of it, if not all of it. And yes - there's also his brilliance as a writer.Is it choppy, is it dirty, is it irresponsible, is it offensive, is it woefully, fragmentary, incomplete and arbitrary, is it sad and pathetic, is it excessive, is it awe-inspiring, does it make you want to quit it's so good sometimes, does it keep you coming back to drink in those sad, searing, hilarious, utterly moving and heart-breaking speeches by Fats Navarro? Damn, it's all of those things as far as I'm concerned, and that's OK.It's certainly fair that a lot of good folks might be offended by the naughty parts, which are in no short supply. Nevertheless, if you're not fascinated by this book, I would submit that your interest in jazz and all that concerns jazz - which is quite a lot of things in this world that are very, very important and sadly under appreciated - is tragically limited. So try reading it again!

I had to buy this book for college. I was going to school to get my bachelor's online in music production located in Boston. One of the several books I had to read, which was hard because I was in-between three jobs and going to school full-time. I manage my time wisely just to ready three books and, this being one of them, was by far my favorite.I like the theme and the atmosphere Mingus presented because it felt as if I was the one who experienced what he did because the way he described his neighborhood reminded me of the one I was born in. It sounded so familiar as if I was right back home and I loved it. His relationship with music and how he persuaded himself to go further with it was very encouraging and I even went to my library's website to get the audiobook.I highly recommend this book to anyone who has a dream in anything, it doesn't have to be about music because if Mingus could do what he did to reach his goals then anyone else can, including me!

Look, all you people who are offended, turned off, disappointed by this book, it is a jazz fable, a tall tale, an anthem to an insane period in American history, a wonderful pastiche and motley carnival of fact and fiction, a truly ground-breaking early Post-Modern ride. It is precisely along the lines of the music Mingus made. The moralists and those who sit in judgment are reacting precisely the way Mingus would have found hilarious. If you don't get this book, you don't get Mingus music and you probably don't get a whole lot of other angles on underground American culture, race relations, black male sexuality as mythologized by our prurient pseudo-religious moralizers, drug addiction and its bizarre effect on personal relationships, raw spirituality and the shadow, the mid-century shambles of mental health care, the predicament of the creative artist in a capitalist society, etc., etc., etc. If you want a pallid "jazz biography" read a book by some footnote-addled academic. If you want a real vision of one of the craziest lives of one of the most amazing artists of the 20th century, this book can work.

If Mingus really was as "crazy" as this book interrupts these years of his life:AlI I can say is wow....I don't know of Charles as being involved in drugs to any wild proportion ...some cannibus sure..who didn't ? Besides having to scrape for cash almost always.. he was all about his compositions. Can you imagine a musician of his caliber having to have money problems ? That is the sad part of jazz music..or maybe it is not...The money thing could very well be why this music is so great ?

I very much wish this book had a lot more info on his development as a musician and a little less on his sexual prowess. Was he the best at that time? Who should he have been compared to? Who did he study with-in more detail.

To start off, I'm a jazz bassist. I have studied the music of Mingus for years and finally purchased this book hoping for a look into the man who composed the music.What I found depressed me. I was hoping to find the man who with his music took on the inequality and racism of the time, the genius who moved beyond bebop into the avant garde. But my quest to find Mingus the man found Mingus the pimp. Who put out his "wives" to make money for him. He turned into a rather sullied hero. If you love the music, it may be wise not to read this book. Instead watch the film of the same title. Your respect for him will remain intact.

I expected to hear more about Charles Mingus' relationships and his reflections about other jazz musicians. Instead, he chose to speak primarily about the women he encountered.Although his third-person references to himself was novel, the book did not hold my interest. A far cry from Miles Davis' autobiography, Miles, which had considerably more depth in terms of his music and other musicians encountered.

This book is no different than his music, utterly Mingus. If you like his music, you'll like the book.

I like Charles Mingus and wanted to like this book. I thought I had read it about 20 years ago, but on rereading it this time I realised that I never made it all the way through. It starts well in his childhood, but becomes something of a slog as he takes us through his sexual exploits and ultimately his life as a pimp. There is little about his music to balance out this rather bleak story that lacks any real poetry contrasting somewhat to his playing and composition for which we all know him for. It's hard at times to listen to some of this and still respect him as a decent human being. Mythologising one's own sexual prowess in literature is not something that is an option for many people. It does paint an important picture about what life was like for him and many others and dismantles any romantic and idealised view many might hold of the jazz world of that time. Perhaps more a book to say you have read than to actually really enjoy.

This is a good look at the life of Mingus, written in a very open, honest and conversational style. It isn't so much about his music life, as about his lifestyle that helped create the jazz he played. If you want an in-depth look at his recording career and concerts then look elsewhere, but if you want an in-depth look at the man then this is the place. You get plenty of stories of his childhood and various loves, as well as his experiences with being a pimp and in a psychiatric ward. An engrossing read, I gave it only four stars as I came away knowing very little about his music career, but that doesn't take away from the intimate nature of this autobiography and portrayal of the man.Feel free to check out my blog which can be found on my profile page.

Excellent book! Very entertaining memoirs and not afraid to stretch the truth for a good story. Gives you a great idea as to what it's like to have spoken to him and is kinda like chewing the fat with the legend.

This book starts well and Charles Mingus does have an interesting style of writing but after the first quarter of the book covering his childhood it becomes a bit of a slog to work through Mingus bragging about his sexual exploits, life as a pimp and his (sigh) supernatural powers. I love his records but this book didn't leave me feeling I knew any more about the man....except that he could spin a tall tale.

I'm well familiar with Mingus as musician and aware that he had a different take on what most might consider 'reality'. Maybe it's a reflection on me that I found myself wrong-footed and 'below the underwhelmed' on reading this. I expected something 'different' and this book certainly is that but at the same time I felt disappointed by the time I finished it.