I was pleased to get to know Billy Strayhorn through this book, which celebrates his music, talent, style, queerness, and blackness, and mourns his death. The end had me bawling.

What I didn't enjoy was that several sections felt like lists of song titles, many of them unfamiliar and many unrecorded; it was a bit of a drudge.

I was recommended the book because of Billy's relationship with the Copasetics, although Honi Coles in particular features as a father figure, the narrative is very much about Billy (and Duke Ellington) than the Copasetics, but it's still worth a read for tap dancers, for the origin and impact of "A Train" alone!