This is a fantastic book. Some of the greatest jazz writing that I have ever enjoyed. The book is in two parts–how John found his sound and how critics respond to Coltrane.
The first part was amazing and covered a lot of the classic Coltrane myths with precision and clarity. Nothing much happened may be one of the greatest chapter titles ever. The Monk period is brilliant–I really started checking this period out again after reading this.
The Critic section is interesting. Ratliff looks mostly at how people dealt with Jazz after Coltrane–lots of looks into academia, peer reviews, stuff like that. Excellent musical journalism and a fresh approach to trying to understand genius. I really enjoyed this and found much of the material covered new, insightful, and very very thought provoking.
I really enjoyed this book a lot.
David Given Schwarm 
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