A wild, lyrical, and anguished autobiography, in which Charles Mingus pays short shrift to the facts but plunges to the very bottom of his psyche, ...
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Feb 15, 2008
Wes
rated it: 
Thoroughly complicated autobiography of highly original jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus. Intensely philosophical, the role of jazz in Mingus' life (or at least the parts of it he put in this book) seems to be so all-encompassing that its incidental; like why is a dude gonna waste time talking about air in his autobiography? This ain't a music book, it's a Mingus book, and Mingus was one conflicted dude. Starts with memories of his childhood in Watts, precedes through his psychically des
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Mar 06, 2009
Eric
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A book of earnest erotica posing as a jazz memoir, Beneath the Underdog chronicles Mingus' childhood and early career as a lover and a pimp with nary of a mention of the music into which he poured his more worthwhile thoughts. Mingus' book is funny and touching at times, but it's also very repetitive (Who can keep all the women straight? Certainly not Mingus) and often stilted. Mingus' tells his story almost completely through dialogue, and while some of it does a good job at capturing voices (M
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Sep 05, 2007
Josh
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This is one of the greatest works of autobiographical fiction I will ever read. Mingus' verbal play is Joycean, his humor Rabelaisian. He is unflinchingly brave when writing about childhood, race, class, sex, creativity, and madness. He is filthily obscene and tenderly naive. This is the kind of candor, self-exhibition and self-delusion that only the most truthful autobiographical fiction achieves.
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Oct 11, 2008
Erin
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It's nuts...mostly lies but an autobiograpy all the same. Mingus thought this stuff happened.
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Jun 09, 2010
Graeme
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This book is maddening. It's at times smooth and wonderful and at others, completely obscuring. You read it and you feel as if you understand Mingus more, and that you know nothing about him all at the same time.
He writes it pretty much as quoted conversation between him and anyone that wanders into his world, from Lady Day to countless 'bitches and whores'. You see it all through Mingus's zany vision, which is elucidating and baffling at the same time. Maybe it's Schroedinger's Cat More...
He writes it pretty much as quoted conversation between him and anyone that wanders into his world, from Lady Day to countless 'bitches and whores'. You see it all through Mingus's zany vision, which is elucidating and baffling at the same time. Maybe it's Schroedinger's Cat More...
Sep 25, 2008
Stephen
rated it:
Probably the only music bio I've ever read that also stands as "literature" or whatever. A surreal, wild ride through Mingus' impoverished childhood in the Watts section of Los Angeles to his triumphs and further struggles as a Black artist in the 30's through the early 60's.
It's particularly interesting to read about the author's struggles with his family and feeling like an outcast in school because of his race. (He was black, Chinese, and white)
It also seems More...
It's particularly interesting to read about the author's struggles with his family and feeling like an outcast in school because of his race. (He was black, Chinese, and white)
It also seems More...
Aug 27, 2007
Murphy
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i am still on the fence as to whether this text would have been better served in its current form or in the hulking 1000+ page manuscript initially prepared by mingus. as is, it makes for a quick and exciting read, but the music stuff feels cold and obious, and the "pimp" stuff feels trashy. had we seen charles' grandiose vision unfurled, perhaps we'd have a clearer idea not only of how much of this was allegory and how much was fact, but a more complete picture of mingus the man and
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Dec 12, 2008
Michael
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Not your usual autobiography. Although it's in chronological order Mingus concentrates more on his complicated relations with women than his musical experiences. Lots of cameos of jazz greats including Bird, Miles, Dizzy, Duke, Hamp, Billy Holiday but more is written about his reluctant other occupation of pimping his girlfriends in California and New York. His insights into race are as complicated as his insights into sexual relationships.
It is a fascinating read and adds to an underst More...
It is a fascinating read and adds to an underst More...
Aug 07, 2008
Daniel
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This is filled with "stink", and for that I loved it. It wasn't a stylized, self aggrandizing version of himself.. it was as honest as he knew how to be. Of course I'd have loved it if he told more stories about Duke, or whatever, but it's him telling me what he thought was important to know. Turns out most of that was about pimping and fucking, but there was also a fair amount about being honest with yourself about who you are, and where you come from, and what god is to you. I do
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Dec 17, 2009
Lee
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Mr. Mingus sure passes on some effective bedroom wisdom in this book . . . I always relish the opportunity to respond, when asked where I learned an especially tantalizing "lovemaking" technique, "That little manuever? My dear, I learned that from none other than Charles Mingus." It's not as cheesy as saying I learned it from Chet Baker, not as Q-bert goofball as saying Wynton Marsalis, not as fucked as saying I learned it from the Rashaan Roland Kirk (who could circular brea
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Oct 16, 2008
Psydeshow
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Well I'm not sure if I didn't like this as much as I was expecting to because it wasn't as good as I hoped, or because it didn't discuss what I wanted to hear?
From the get go this is a strange one, and unlike any other autobiography I've read (not told from a personal point of view or a conceited third person but....well....it's weird and i don't want to spoil it). Throughout the book his music is almost a secondary concern merely referring to milestones in his career. I wonder was t More...
From the get go this is a strange one, and unlike any other autobiography I've read (not told from a personal point of view or a conceited third person but....well....it's weird and i don't want to spoil it). Throughout the book his music is almost a secondary concern merely referring to milestones in his career. I wonder was t More...
Aug 30, 2010
bethanne
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Charles Mingus is one of the great jazz legends I have ever heard. His music is experimental and groundbreaking, yet he was troubled and plagued by addictions and demons. This is his autobiography and it is not only as out there as his music, but also pretty great too.
Told in the third person, Mingus talks to his therapist about his life up from his crazy family and upbringing in California to his meteoric rise in the jazz world. It's raw, its honest and it's weird. But the book works. More...
Told in the third person, Mingus talks to his therapist about his life up from his crazy family and upbringing in California to his meteoric rise in the jazz world. It's raw, its honest and it's weird. But the book works. More...
Apr 16, 2010
Andrew
rated it:
This is a fierce, bragging, smart, autobiography that's full of tall tales and simple truths. Written in a very straightforward language that's full of colloquialisms slang and street smarts. It reminded me of the anger evident in the Miles Davis biography, but it's more matter of fact about it. I recently read this for the second time and it was just as good as i remember it.
Jul 27, 2011
sheesh!! and I thought dylan's autobio was arrogant, intimate & frustrating! mingus takes it to a whole new level man. too much! something approaching a triumphant ending makes wading thru the muck of seemingly endless diatiribes & sexual adventures worthwhile. from taunted fat kid in the ghetto to the king of sex - what a life! oh yeah, there's jazz too.
Jan 11, 2009
Matthew
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I am a fan of Mingus. I couldn't wait to get to the point where he talked about recording with Duke Ellington and Max Roach and it never happened. I would have been disappointed if this book was not so well-written and fascinating. I'll never listen to his music the same way again. Not for the faint of heart. A must read for any fan of his.
Dec 17, 2009
He was done for--his head split wide open on the corner of a Goodwill-store old fashioned second-hand-me-down white-folks' bedroom-set dresser. I hadn't realized how important the little fellow was. Everybody got so upset. I found myself outside him for the first time since he was born, standing beside him with Mama and his older sisters, Grace and Vivian. Grace was screaming, "Baby's dead! Baby's dead! Oh, lord Jesus! My baby brother's gone!"
Here comes Daddy! He's looking do More...
Here comes Daddy! He's looking do More...
Sep 16, 2007
Andrew
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"For me a man's meaning, the reason he has to keep on living, is that were he to live thousands of years he would never fulfill all his possibilities, never communicate or create all he is capable of. So he must use what time he has creating now for the future, not as a razor strop for guilts and fears that inhibit his very being."
Part of the wonderful advice that Nat Hentoff supposedly gave to Mingus when his tumultuous, race-tension filled stints with Tal Farlow and Duke More...
Part of the wonderful advice that Nat Hentoff supposedly gave to Mingus when his tumultuous, race-tension filled stints with Tal Farlow and Duke More...
Aug 09, 2011
Gregory
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One of my favorite books to read. Mingus shares with us the wild ride (some true, some liberties taken) that was his life. He is one of the few artist that I relate to (as well as inspired by) in my journey so I find a sort of relief while reading this book.
Sep 06, 2011
Dave
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People have strong opinions about this book. I think it's a masterpiece. One of my favorite (exaggerated) autobiographies. Less music, more mental institutions and pimping. I love his music and his writing.
Aug 05, 2009
Mary
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Completely original way to write an autobiography - very affecting. Still I would have preferred to hear more about Mingus's music and less about his sex life.
Oct 31, 2009
Chris
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Are even two pages of this text dedicated to Mingus's music? If I didn't know otherwise, I'd assume this was the autobiography of a pimp. Amazing life, though.
Jan 07, 2009
Christopher
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Charles Mingus was possibly the best jazz composer ever, and one of the best Twentieth Century composers, period. This is his story, as told by the man himself, in manic, beat-style prose.
May 26, 2011
Eric
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One of the great, weird, wild, probably largely made up but who cares, autobiographies of all time by one of the greatest musicians of all time.
Jan 16, 2011
David
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woah. this is the story of an incredible life from an incredible man. pornographic at times, incredulous at others, but always brutally honest.
Jan 17, 2010
Rob
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Less jazz story line than I wanted (and a lot more sex/drugs than I was expecting). But you have to respect that he actually wrote it himself.
Oct 28, 2009
Curt
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Interesting. More obscene than I had expected. Funny. Unsure what's biography and what's fiction. So far, not much insight into his music.
Mar 25, 2009
Anthony
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Much more than just a jazz bio. Uneven writing but a very compelling coming-of-age story.
Dec 06, 2011
Tim
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What appealed to me the most about this bio was the aspect of Kerouac that played out in the prose. It was a story that just refused to end. Mingus manages to write the single most unmusical story involving a legion of jazz legends that I could conceive of. What really didn't appeal to me was his nonstop abuse of the women in his life. He was a pimp, and a con man of the worst sort. How do you reconcile that with the music he manages to create during his career? At least we don't have to within
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Jul 30, 2011
A brilliantly written autobiography. Mingus was the king. Everyone should read this...
