Drifting on a Read: Jazz As a Model for Writing

For almost a century, writers such as Ralph Ellison, Michael Ondaatje, and Ishmael Reed have expressed an affinity for jazz, hearing the music as a model for writing. Michael Jarrett examines their work and the work of others who have brought jazz into language, pushing "interpretation" into the realm of "invention."

This book deals with one of the most urgent, damaging, and complex issues affecting young lives and contemporary society in general—the escalating high school dropout rate.