Jazz Country

by Nat Hentoff

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060223065
• ISBN13: 9780060223069
• Release Date: January 1965
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Hentoff on jazz and people

Young Tom wants to be a jazz musician, but there are a few problems. Is he really good enough? He's told that he plays like he's never paid any dues; "I didn't have it. I wasn't saying anything with my music. And worst of all, I wasn't even the right color. For once, this wasn't anything I could talk to my father about. He's white too, after all...." All the true greats in jazz have been black. Tom wants desperately to 'in' with blacks, many of whom seem hostile to him. On the other hand, many whites find it hard to believe that Tom actually wants to play jazz for a living and don't take him seriously, or are violently racist. Tom's dogged pursuit of jazz in the midst of his unhappiness and uncertainty wins out, sort of, in the end. If you're not into jazz, the book will seem foreign. If you are, you'll be right at home. Hentoff deals with the question of race relations in his usual manner--no statements by him, no obvious slant, even; he just lets his characters do and say things in character, and in so doing makes his opinion clear while stimulating the reader's thought.

About a boy who decides on going to college or playing jazz

I think this book was great. I play trumpet myself and I can see where he's coming from. Trumpet is so fun to play, especially jazz. If I were him, I would go to college because you can still play there. I think he can still make it out there with the help of Godfrey, and I think he had a hard time because this is definetly something to think about doing.