A review by hollyevaallen
Coming Through Slaughter by Michael Ondaatje

5.0

Absolutely gorgeous. I’d never even heard of jazz musician Buddy Bolden before reading this book and I don’t usually care for the concept of “fictionalized real life accounts” but this book was amazing. As one of the characters slowly descends into madness, you truly feel as though the same is happening to you. Another character’s bewilderment feels like it’s really yours. Somewhat tragic and has unpredictable scene changes that take some getting used to (feels like syncopated jazz music) but it’s so worth it. I’d really recommend this to anyone even mildly interested in jazz music or poetry (as some passages read like poetry).