Jon Garelick's review of Stanley Crouch's new book “Kansas City Lightning:the rise and Times of Charlie Parker” in today's Globe is on the money. He points out that Crouch goes for the home run but occasionally misses. My vote is at that least he tried for the home run. Most of it is successful. He has such passion for the subject that it is easy to overlook where he misses. Miss: this is not a book that you read to get actual information about Parker, though. Garelick points out that Crouch is projecting himself into scenes we only know only a few facts about. Crouch has no way of knowing how Parker felt about those scenes, but he describes his feelings any way. The plus side is Crouch immerses the reader in the events; you get to experience them up close, feel them, and be in them.
The low point is when he gets technical about the music. There are some errors.
I had low expectations for the book. I based this on previous Crouch record reviews and his soundbites in Ken Burns' “Jazz” documentary where he comes off as “Stanley Grouch” consistently. Also, check out his picture on the book sleeve- he looks like he is constantly peeved. Assuming he had some control of what his book looked like, I guess he is comfortable being portrayed that way.
If you go somewhere else to get the facts on Charlie Parker, this book is joyous to read because Crouch loves the music and does a damn good job of translating his love into prose.

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