Bass Cathedral

The Great American Jazz Novel by Nathaniel Mackey, winner of the 2006 National Book Award.

The New York Times - David Hajdu

Episodic, unpredictable, often self-referential and sometimes self-absorbed, Bass Cathedral is a virtuoso performance done for the glory of performing. The satisfaction Bass Cathedral provides is that of the moment. It feels, sentence to sentence and page to page, like a work in the act of being created. It is not simply writing about jazz, but writing as jazz…There is a cliche about music writing, sometimes attributed to Thelonious Monk, among others: "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture." If so, Nathaniel Mackey is compelled, rather than deterred, by the multiform madness of the enterprise. He is the Balanchine of the architecture dance.

Nathaniel Mackey (b. 1942), is the author of books of poetry, fiction, and criticism, editor of the Literary Jounal Hambone, and radio show host. His collection, Splay Anthem, won the 2006 National Book Award for Poetry. He is also on the Board of Chancellors of the Academy of American Poets, and is Professor of Literature at the University of California at Santa Cruz.