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Blue Monday
Book by Barnes, Harper
- GenresJazz
210 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1991
14 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 24, 2021
Bennie Molton, much revered band leader in the 1930’s Jazz Era, goes into the hospital in Kansas City for a routine tonsillectomy, and dies. Days later, the doctor who performed the surgery is found with his throat cut. Bennie’s death certificate is missing from the Jackson County courthouse.
A young reporter looks at the facts, finds them very curious and coincidental, and decides to do a little investigating. What he uncovers is the basis for this book. It’s a novel, to be sure, but absolutely based on facts.
A comprehensive look at Kansas City, a “center of vice, corruption, violent crime -- and jazz.” Hindering the investigation are “a rigid color line, the machine of Boss Tom Pendergast, and a vicious dope ring that feeds on the soul of jazz.”
Published by The Patrice Press, St. Louis, MO, 1991
A young reporter looks at the facts, finds them very curious and coincidental, and decides to do a little investigating. What he uncovers is the basis for this book. It’s a novel, to be sure, but absolutely based on facts.
A comprehensive look at Kansas City, a “center of vice, corruption, violent crime -- and jazz.” Hindering the investigation are “a rigid color line, the machine of Boss Tom Pendergast, and a vicious dope ring that feeds on the soul of jazz.”
Published by The Patrice Press, St. Louis, MO, 1991
September 29, 2015
The story takes place in mid-1930s Kansas City, MO and revolves around a newspaper reporter investigating the suspicious death of a famous local (semi-famous national) band leader.
The historical setting and the details of the book are all things that I have a huge interest in. Jazz, mystery, gangsters and Kansas City are all subjects that I have casually (if not thoroughly) studied at one time or another, and it is because of these subjects that I found the book interesting. It was the setting and imagery that accounted for 2 of my 3 stars.
The book grabbed me instantly and threw me into the night scene up and down 18th, 12th and Vine in the Jazz district in Kansas City. The imagery was spectacular and made me long to be a part of that scene. Unfortunately, I was born about 50 years too late. The descriptions and atmosphere in the first chapter are wonderful. Unfortunately, the book was not able to sustain that tone.
While the atmosphere is thick and the characters are very good (in some cases wonderful), the story slows down quite a lot through the middle of the book. There are a few chapters that in my opinion were a little unnecessary. I think the author was trying to add tension to the protagonist's plight but in my view it was unnecessary and unsuccessful.
The mystery picks up pace in the last 75 or so pages and comes to an acceptable ending, in spite of trudging along for several chapters in the middle of the novel.
Though the mystery was a grinding endeavor that left a lot to be desired the descriptions of Kansas City and the historical characters were highly successful and kept me reading the whole way through.
If you are a jazz nut, you need to read this book. Historical references to almost all the key players in the Kansas City jazz movement in the 1930s are here in wonderful form. From Bennie Moten to Count Basie, Lester Young, Ben Webster and Joe Turner. Take the mystery with a grain of salt and it's an ok read. If you have no interest in jazz or Kansas City, I would say there are many better reads and I wouldn't recommend the book.
The historical setting and the details of the book are all things that I have a huge interest in. Jazz, mystery, gangsters and Kansas City are all subjects that I have casually (if not thoroughly) studied at one time or another, and it is because of these subjects that I found the book interesting. It was the setting and imagery that accounted for 2 of my 3 stars.
The book grabbed me instantly and threw me into the night scene up and down 18th, 12th and Vine in the Jazz district in Kansas City. The imagery was spectacular and made me long to be a part of that scene. Unfortunately, I was born about 50 years too late. The descriptions and atmosphere in the first chapter are wonderful. Unfortunately, the book was not able to sustain that tone.
While the atmosphere is thick and the characters are very good (in some cases wonderful), the story slows down quite a lot through the middle of the book. There are a few chapters that in my opinion were a little unnecessary. I think the author was trying to add tension to the protagonist's plight but in my view it was unnecessary and unsuccessful.
The mystery picks up pace in the last 75 or so pages and comes to an acceptable ending, in spite of trudging along for several chapters in the middle of the novel.
Though the mystery was a grinding endeavor that left a lot to be desired the descriptions of Kansas City and the historical characters were highly successful and kept me reading the whole way through.
If you are a jazz nut, you need to read this book. Historical references to almost all the key players in the Kansas City jazz movement in the 1930s are here in wonderful form. From Bennie Moten to Count Basie, Lester Young, Ben Webster and Joe Turner. Take the mystery with a grain of salt and it's an ok read. If you have no interest in jazz or Kansas City, I would say there are many better reads and I wouldn't recommend the book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews