The reviewer for the journal "Notes" commented that "the reader is forced to plow through page after page of erotica (some might label it pornography) in order to ferret out the most basic kind of information about the man and his music." "The Washington Post" 's reviewer stated that the book is "sexual fantasy and tortured personality conflict", and complained that there was little information about Mingus' music or those he played with. "The Observer" 's reviewer believed that "Mingus has made a contribution to recent American literature that even his well-wishers could not have anticipated", and stressed that the bassist had described "what it feels like to be an artist – actually "be" it, in a world that is not only trying to stop you being an artist but has tried to stop you being human in the first place."