Trumpet

by Jackie Kay

Book Overview

Supremely humane.... Kay leaves us with a broad landscape of sweet tolerance and familial love. --The New York Times Book Review

In her starkly beautiful and wholly unexpected tale, Jackie Kay delves into the most intimate workings of the human heart and mind and offers a triumphant tale of loving deception and lasting devotion.

The death of legendary jazz trumpeter Joss Moody exposes an extraordinary secret, one that enrages...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375704639
• ISBN13: 9780375704635
• Release Date: July 2000
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.1" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Awesome Novel!

Here's a contemporary novel well worth the read. The story is basically about a trumpet player whom everyone thought was a man until the truth is found out at the latter's death. The novel is divided into mainly three first person narrators: the widow of the trumpet player, his son, and a journalist who wants to ghostwrite a book on the whole thing. I'll be honest, I never really had any interest in Jazz, or scottish culture (it's a scottish novel, written by a gay black woman, who's also scottish) but that novel makes it all mighty interesting; and the writing is great. The different voices are excellent. The whole book is like how others pictures that person who wasn't a man but was believed by all to be one. It may not seem so, but it's perfectly credible, and besides, this was inspired by a true story. The cover of my book says it has won the 1998 Guardian Fiction Prize; pardon my ignorance but I don't know of it, just thought it might be worth mentionning here. I really recommend it for those who wish to read something contemporary, and of quality. It's really mighty. Jackie Kay is formerly a poet, this is her first novel.

Pure poetry

It was not a surprise to me to read, after finishing the book, that the author is a poet. This book moved with beautiful flow, so easy to read, and engaging. As another reviewer mentioned, the book is based, loosely, on the story of Billy Tipton. "Suits Me" is interesting, but it is an incredibly slow and arduous read and, in return, does not provide much insight into Billy Tipton and his journey. However, "Trumpet" does provide insight and the reader can't help but understand all the of the characters, their struggles and their joys. This is an amazing story and beautifully written.

Riveting reading.

I shan't elaborate more since the other reviewers have summed up the book so well. Suffice to say I was gripped from page one until the last. There is one particular chapter called "Music" that is akin to a long magical poem, a cry from deep within, a description of the trumpet player lost in his music. Beautiful.A truly wonderful book.

Don't have the right words to describe this good book!!

Once in a lifetime there comes a book/s that make/s u think..they make u feel something...pose so many questions only to show that still waters run deep and Trumpet by Jackie Kay is one such book...I picked this book with great trepidation knowing whether or not I would like it. But as the case goes and I am glad that all my apprehensions were gone with the wind once I began this tiny jewel. Trumpet begins on death. Joss moody the famous trumpet player has passed on leaving a legacy of great music and a terrible secret: He was a woman. This is the crux of the book: Was this deception right or wrong? Narrated through the voices of his wife Minnie Moody ( who knew it all from the very beginning and accepted him as the way he was), their adopted son Joss Moody - who is angry at his father, the band members, his friends, and of course the media hungry journalist Sophie Stones who wishes to write a book on his life. What struck me most about this book was: Here is a woman born in the thities..wishes to become a trumpet player in the 50's - when most women were not allowed to enter men professions', here was a woman to break and bend all rules....Absolutely amazing!

Can truth & love be obliterated by a biological detail ?

"Trumpet", Jackie Kay's Guardian Fiction Prize winning novel, transforms what could have been perfect cannon fodder for exploiters of the lurid and the sensational into a beautifully touching and emotional tale of love, betrayal, truth and quest for identity. When legendary trumpeter, Joss Moody, is certified "female" by the undertaker upon his death, his adopted son Coleman goes ballistic at his father's deception and betrayal, his widow Millicent sinks into deep mourning as she copes with her loss, while friends and colleagues express shock and disbelief but reminisce on the times when Joss revealed a softer side that could have signalled his true sex if only they had paid attention. As his wife, son and friends take turns telling the story, it becomes apparant that the truth as they perceive it is conditioned by their relationship with the famed trumpeter. Even the female journalist conspiring with Coleman's help to publish a "tell all" of the incredible life of Joss Moody reveals through her internal monologues insecurities which drive her need to forge a writer's relationship with her subject. The big question must be, despite the deception and a lifetime of seemingly living a lie as a person of the opposite sex, whether anyone who was an integral part of Joss' life was truly damaged by the revelation ? Can truth and love be obliterated by a biological detail ? What if the undertaker had faked it or Joss had somehow been laid to rest without anybody making the discovery ? Wasn't he a great musician, whether he was Joss or Josephine ? Kay's "Trumpet" made an enormous impression on me. She managed miraculously to tackle a rather strange if not unusual subject with all the emotional honesty and rectitude that the task demands without stingeing on any of the ingredients that go into the telling of a gripping and compelling tale. Once I began on it, I couldn't put it down. This is a wonderful book. Please read it.