Straight Life: The Story of Art Pepper

Art Pepper (1925-1982) was described as the greatest altosaxophonist of the post-Charlie Parker generation. But "Straight Life" is much more than a jazz book - it is one of the most explosive, yet one of the most lyrical, of all autobiographies, narrated on tape to his wife Laurie.
Pepper refuses to tiptoe round many of the unpalatable episodes of a life involved alcoholism, heroin addiction, armed robberies and five of what should have been his most productive years imprisoned in San Quentin. The result is an autobiography like no other, a masterpiece of the spoken word, shaped into a genuine work of literature.