Space is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra Paperback – 10 Oct. 2000

Amazing book, any Sun Ra fan will have trouble putting it down once they start reading it. It gives such a profound and deep insight into Ra's personal life and upbringing, which gives his music and life so much more intrigue and meaning. Very useful resource for anyone looking to understand Sun Ra's music more.

The definitive biography of the musical magician from Saturn. A must for anyone wanting to learn more about the man who’s singular take on modern jazz has found fans far beyond those realms. We learn the myth behind the man and the man behind the myth and the staggering accumulation of wonderful records Sun Ra and the Arkestra produced down the decades.

Really good

A great book . Thought provoking

A great book, a page-turner and something that really helped put Ra's work in perspective for me. Every period of Ra's life and music is well documented. From looking around this seems to be the definitive book on Sun Ra and I couldn't get enough of it!The only downside for such a well-received book is that it could do with an editor going over it with a fine toothcomb. It looses a star in my rating because of the very few minor editorial errors I think I found; one quote is repeated in part twice, when listing the various names Arkestra were known under, one name is repeated twice in the list and It seems to me that not every single quote begins and ends with speech marks.Having said this, I absolutely loved the book; I found out pretty much all I wanted to know about the man and his music. As other reviews have mentioned the author is singing very much from the same hymn sheet as Ra and it is sometimes difficult to tell where Sun Ra's words stop and the authors begin, but I didn't have a problem with that; It's Ra's message that is important and this is what he gives us. It's quite a magical book and is truly in the spirit of Ra for me. All in all, must for Ra fans!

Good book, great, fast service, of the legend Sun Ra. Tank you!

brilliant book but this is a complaint for amazon - it turned up with water damage - right before Chrismas, and it's meant to be a gift. what can I do here?

Packed with contemporaneous detail and a comprehensive study.

Arrived before expected date, perfect condition

If you’re interested enough to read this review, read this book. As a jazz musician and a writer, I have read a lot of music biographies, many just for the story regardless of bad writing. But Szwed’s biography of Sun Ra is gorgeous, indispensable and a riot to read. My jaw started dropping on page one and it continued from there. Sun Ra’s music and life are already astonishing, and Szwed uses his gifts of scholarship and relentless clarity to reveal this incredible story rather than try to compose it. I’ll say about this biography what musicians say to me all the time about music: You gotta listen to this.

Sehr gutes, informatives Buch für alle Jazz-Fans, das das gesamte Leben von Sun Ra umreißt. Auch über die Situation der Schwarzen in den USA erfährt man sehr viel.

Para cualquiera que guste de la música de Sun Ra pero que, además, esté interesado en indagar las vertientes e influencias que confluyen en su obra, esta biografía de John Szwed es esencial. No se trata, sin embargo, de una biografía meramente compuesta por datos o anécdotas sino que construye en torno de ellos una estudiada contextualización del ambiente y las condiciones de producción que enmarcan la trayectoria vital y musical de Sun Ra.Se trata, por tanto, de una obra imprescindible tanto para quienes se acercan por primera vez a la música de este viajero saturnino como para los especialistas en musicología o en estudios culturales.

son was blown away by this gift