From the Book - 1st Free Press hardcover ed
"My mother didn't want me to grow up in North Carolina"
"What is jazz? New York, man!"
"I always did want to play piano"
"We played and she healed"
"Why can't you play music like the Ink Spots?"
"They weren't giving any lectures"
"Since you went away I missed you"
"I'm trying to see if it's a hit"
"Dizzy and Bird did nothing for me musically"
"The George Washington of Bebop"
"It's a drag to be in jail"
"Sometimes I play things I never heard myself"
"The Greta Garbo of jazz"
"As long as I can make a living"
"People have tried to put me off as being crazy"
"My time for fame will come"
"The police just mess with you ... for nothing"
"Make sure them tempos are right"
"Hell, I did that twenty-five years ago"
"Maybe I'm a major influence"
"Everything begins here and everything ends here"
"That's a drag picture they're paintin' of me"
"Sometimes I don't feel like talking"
"Let someone else create something new!"
"What do I have to do? Play myself to death?"
"I am very seriously ill!"
Appendix A: A technical note on Monk's music
Appendix B: Records and tapes in Thelonious Monk's personal collection
Original compositions by Thelonious Monk
Selected recordings by Thelonious Monk
Selected documentaries and videos of Thelonious Monk
