(Low)life - A Memoir of Jazz Fight-Fixing and the Mob

Charles Farrell

Summary

“Unbelievably good... amazing scenes, heartbreaking scenes. The dialogue is so good in this book. I mean, people talk about the dialogue of Don DeLillo, how authentic it is… the dialogue in a book like this is better than the dialogue in Don DeLillo... Literary masterpieces in storytelling... Just fucking nailing it, again and again.”—Book Rants
 
“With deadpan humor, whip-smart insights and some damn fine sentences, Charles Farrell has written a classic chronicle of life in the twilight world, on par with masters of the genre like Damon Runyon, Mezz Mezzrow, Nat Hentoff and Nick Pileggi. A truly great read.”—Debby Applegate, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher, and author of Madam: The Life of Polly Adler, Icon of the Jazz-Age
 
"To scrape the heavens with your art, to plunge into the sordors of the world with your business: not even Charles Farrell can explain Charles Farrell. But he’s better qualified to try it than anybody else, and you owe it to yourself - I might even say it’s your duty as an American - to experience (Low)life. Elegant, unexpected, seeking always the real behind the real, Farrell’s prose hits like the precision fists of... blows like the wild trumpet of... I give up."—James Parker, The AtlanticA world-class jazz pianist, Charles Farrell made his living working Mob clubs from the time he was a teenager in the 1960s. He later moved from music to the complex world of professional boxing, managing dozens of fighters, including former heavyweight champion Leon Spinks and former gang leader Mitch “Blood” Green, who famously went toe-to-toe with Mike Tyson—once in the ring and once in the street.A fight-fixer and gangster, Farrell ran afoul of New York mobsters in the 1990s and retreated to the mountains of Puerto Rico, coming home only after an infamous boxing legend brokered his safe return.Retired from the fight game, he returned to jazz and, among other collaborators, played frequently with his friend Ornette Coleman, the godfather of “Free Jazz” and one of the greatest musicians of the twentieth century.(Low)life is a singular book by a singular man.

Available since: 11/15/2023.

Print length: 312 pages.

Other books that might interest you

Leave the Building Quickly -...

Cynthia Kaplan

Cynthia Kaplan, acclaimed author of Why I'm Like This, once again casts her gimlet eye upon the current state of her affairs. Also of your affairs, and some other people's affairs as well. Journey with her as she humiliates herself in a variety of locales and fearlessly takes on all the important issues of the day—including her family, intelligent design, Narnia, and New England's deer population. Leave the Building Quickly is a hilarious, moving, bitingly honest, take-no-prisoners incursion into the kind of real-life daily circumstances that inspire us to crouch in the linen closet at three in the morning. But that's okay because Kaplan's there, too. And she's brought snacks.

Show book

Ginger Baker of Cream: In...

Geoffrey Giuliano

Ginger Baker is without question one of the foremost drummers of his generation, having formed the supergroups Cream and Blind Faith. In the early 1990s, Geoffrey Giuliano received an unsolicited call from Mr. Baker asking if he would be interested in writing his autobiography. From there a turbulent yet fruitful relationship ensued between the two men. While the book they wrote has yet to be published, here at last are the in-depth, upfront, and personal conversations the two unlikely friends recorded in a Western New York studio all those years ago. For everyone interested in the history, art, and cultural significance of the popular music of the 20th century, this series is a once in a lifetime must-have audio event. Perfect for universities and all educational media. Episode 9: Cream explodes. Weaning himself off of heroin. A nasty car crash at the end of his Graham Bond days. Yet another car crash with Cream. Recording Fresh Cream in ten days. Ginger doesn’t like Geoffrey’s donuts. The artistry of Cream. Contains adult language and mature themes. Not recommended for children. Produced by Fred Betschen Edited by Macc Kay Project Coordinator Alex FranchiMusic by Audionautix

Show book

Through Blue Skies to Hell -...

Edward M. Sion

A “surprisingly revealing” look at air combat, combining a WWII bombardier’s journal with a present-day perspective (Aviation News). This comprehensive look at air war over Europe during the climactic year of World War II combines firsthand experience with expert analysis. The centerpiece is a mission-by-mission diary of 1st Lt. Richard R. Ayesh, bombardier on a B-17 Flying Fortress, who flew with the 100th Bombardment Group, 13th Combat Wing of the 8th Air Force—the legendary “Bloody 100th.” He received the Distinguished Flying Cross, Croix de Guerre, and Air Medal with Four Oak Leaf Clusters, among others. This book follows Ayesh’s progress from his youth during the Great Depression in Wichita, Kansas, which was rapidly becoming the air capital of the nation, to his arrival in England as a lieutenant in a bomber crew assigned to assault the Third Reich. The author provides a look at the principles of American daylight strategic bombing, while relaying the overall military situation on the ground and in the air just after D-Day. Covering all aspects of air war in a clear, concise, yet nontechnical manner, the book covers such topics as photo-reconnaissance, munitions and bomb types, aircraft characteristics, fighter and bomber tactics, bomber formations, strategic target selection, radars, countermeasures and counter-counter measures. The unaltered diary of Lt. Ayesh is presented mission-by-mission, punctuated by tragedy and heroism, with explanations and commentary of the significance of events and actions described en route. The result is one of the most frank and exciting works on the air war over Europe to date. After Lt. Ayesh is followed on his perilous return home in U-boat infested waters, the book assesses the effectiveness of US strategy in ultimately paralyzing the Nazi war machine. Finally, the complex moral issues raised by area and city bombing are explored, with twenty-first century implications.

Show book

Christmas Fiction off the Beaten...

Laurie Lucking, Michelle L....

Not your Granny's Christmas stories … 
 Step off the beaten path and enjoy six stories that look beyond the expected, the traditional, the tried-and-true. 
 Inspired by the song, Mary Did You Know? -- a mother's memories of events leading up to and following that one holy night. MARY, DID YOU KNOW? 
 A young woman seeking her own identity searches for the man who tried to kill her and her mother on Christmas Eve twenty years before. A ROSE FROM THE ASHES 
 Princess, tower, sorceress, dragon, brave knight, clever peasant -- combine these ingredients into a Christmas-time story that isn't quite what you'd expect. RETURN TO CALLIDORA 
 Anticipating tough financial times, the decision not to buy or exchange presents leads to some painful and surprising revelations for a hardworking man and his family. NOT THIS YEAR 
 Years ago, a gunman and a store full of hostages learned some important lessons about faith and pain and what really matters in life -- and the echoes from that day continue to the present. THOSE WHO STAYED 
 A community of refugees, a brutal winter, a doorway to another world -- a touch of magic creating holiday joy for others leads to a Christmas wish fulfilled. CRYSTAL CHRISTMAS

Show book

Improbable Patriot - The Secret...

Harlow Giles Unger

Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais was an eighteenth-century French inventor, famed playwright, and upstart near-aristocrat in the court of King Louis XVI. In 1776, he conceived an audacious plan to send aid to the American rebels. What's more, he convinced the king to bankroll the project, and singlehandedly carried it out. By war's end, he had supplied Washington's army with most of its weapons and powder, though he was never paid or acknowledged by the United States. 
To some, he was a dashing hero—a towering intellect who saved the American Revolution. To others, he was pure rogue—a double-dealing adventurer who stopped at nothing to advance his fame and fortune. In fact, he was both, and more: an advisor to kings, an arms dealer, and author of some of the most enduring works of the stage, including The Marriage of Figaro and The Barber of Seville.

Show book

The Trail Drivers of Texas -...

J. Marvin Hunter

“For 60 years, [it] has been considered the most monumental single source on the old-time Texas trail drives north to Kansas and beyond.” —The Dallas Morning News These are the chronicles of the trail drivers of Texas—those rugged men and, sometimes, women—who drove cattle and horses up the trails from Texas to northern markets in the late 1800s. Gleaned from members of the Old Time Trail Drivers’ Association, these hundreds of real-life stories—some humorous, some chilling, some rambling, all interesting—form an invaluable cornerstone to the literature, history, and folklore of Texas and the West. First published in the 1920s and reissued by the University of Texas Press in 1985, this classic work is now available in an ebook edition that contains the full text, historical illustrations, and name index of the hardcover edition. “The essential starting point for any study of Texas trail driving days. Walter Prescott Webb called it ‘Absolutely the best source there is on the cattle trail . . .’” —Basic Texas Books “A book of recollections written by the trail drivers themselves. It has been declared that this volume will prove to be the storehouse of historians and novelists for generations.” —J. Marvin Hunter’s Frontier Times Magazine “A collection of narrative sketches of early cowboys and their experiences in driving herds of cattle through the unfenced Texas prairies to northern markets. They are true narratives told by the cowpunchers who experienced the long rides.” —Texas Proud

Show book