The book's subtitle is The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker. It takes us up to 1940 when Parker became established as a truly original, inventive, world-beating alto saxophone player in New York. It's therefore not about his mature accomplishments at the peak of his profession but rather about how he got there.
There is little in the way of letters, interviews, or photos from which a biographer can draw details of Parker's early life. Even the earliest recording of Parker seems to date from 1939 or 1940, and it's not a professional production. Crouch interviewed dozens of people over dozens of years to build up his story. The result is an evocation of the times and environments that nurtured and challenged Parker, and a believable narration of key events in his life.
Crouch is not only determined, knowledgeable and musical, he is also creative. He's creative in the ways he interpolates storylines between sparse facts, and he's creative in the ways he uses words, colorfully and almost poetically. It's a joy to read his descriptions, whether they're of Kansas City corruption, battles of the bands, or the myriad things that a saxophone solo can express.
One thing that strikes me about Parker's story is that he was not a natural-born talent, but worked and suffered and was booed and chased from the stage, and worked harder, and was hooked on drugs but escaped from them for the sake of getting better at his art, and worked ever harder to achieve what he did. I find such people far more inspirational than little Mozarts who get everything right from an early age and hardly struggle and hardly grow.
Crouch chooses to use the word "Negroes" rather than "blacks", which I suppose is truer to the flavor of the times he's writing about. I recommend this book to anyone who loves jazz and wants to feel what it felt like to live among the pioneers.