Young Man with a Horn (novel)

Young Man with a Horn is a 1938 novel by Dorothy Baker that is loosely based on the real life of jazz cornet player Bix Beiderbecke. The novel was adapted for the movie Young Man With a Horn (1950) with Kirk Douglas, Doris Day, Lauren Bacall, Juano Hernández, and real-life Bix Beiderbecke friend and collaborator Hoagy Carmichael

Young Man with a Horn
First edition cover
AuthorDorothy Baker
LanguageEnglish
GenreBiographic novel
Published1938 (Houghton Mifflin)

Plot introduction

It is a fictionalized novel on jazz set in a world of speakeasies and big bands during The Jazz Age of the 1920s. It is loosely based on the life of the great cornet player Bix Beiderbecke who died of alcoholism in 1931 at the age of 28. It tells the story of Rick Martin, a tormented genius from childhood until his death at age 30.

The racial component of jazz is addressed. Ever since the first jazz record was released in 1917 by the white band The Original Dixieland Jazz Band, race has been an inherent issue in the new musical genre of jazz. In the wake of the success of the ODJB, both white and black musicians and bands emerged. The story also dwells on the white/black abilities to play jazz. Rick, however, establishes a strong relationship with white and black musicians. The book details both the widely accepted public view of the jazz musician of the time as well as a musician's own struggle for perfection. This drive finally destroys Rick.

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References
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