Art Pepper (1925 - 1982) was described as the greatest alto-saxophonist of the post-Charlie Parker generation. But Straight Life is much more than a jazz book - it is oneof 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 that 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.