2 A.M. at The Cat’s Pajamas – revisited

I liked this book so much I wanted to re-read it – this time on paper. "2 A.M. at The Cat's Pajamas" is one of my favorite fictions, one of the best I have read. What did I like so much about this book? It’s about jazz: my favorite music; this is a jazz book, with music noodling throughout. It’s, in a way, cozy: you feel like you’re hanging out with friends at a house party, in a music club, at a restaurant, walking down the street. Its style, the time frame, shows normal people on a normal day intersecting in a way much more interesting than normal, funny and sad at the same time, and everything in between. The paperback edition has extra features, including Q&A with the author, and a playlist that will be the perfect accompaniment to this fun and delightful read.

Looking back, here’s what I wrote last time:

“A feel-good book is always welcome. Many readers will find “2 A.M. at The Cat’s Pajamas” to have an overall uplifting effect. If you liked “The Good Luck of Right Now” (see also “Silver Linings Playbook”) you will probably also delight in this Philadelphia story. The Cat’s Pajamas is a jazz club in Philadelphia’s Fishtown – another name I like. The house band there is the Cubanistas, led by Max Cubanista, who tells people he is from Cuba. Lorca, however, inherited the place along with the prized Snakehead guitar. His son Alex, the next generation, practices guitar when he can, while in another part of the city young Madeleine hopes to sing, anywhere, since they won’t let her at Saint Anthony’s. Her teacher and her principle – childhood classmate of Madeleine’s recently deceased mother – don’t know what to do with this sassy girl. The things a child like Madeleine worries about, and isn’t afraid of, and the grown-ups, they have their significant memories and imaginings. Everyone has their flaws, and their positive character traits. One complaint I’d have is that some of the secondary characters are a little hard to sort out; they are in and out, usually together, so telling one from another may require a closer second reading. However, I give this book points for the descriptions of music, and for its real originality, making the unnoticed details of everyday life shine, and in the crossing paths of the various characters. Though the chapters are only an hour or less apart, each passage feels like a new day, showing how much can happen in a day – and a night.”

Note: I received a free copy of this title through BloggingForBooks in exchange for an honest review.