r any subject aside from music. Women are certainly important to him, but always from the perspective of a spoiled little boy whose own needs are always central. His feelings for women are no doubt real, although those feelings are invariably measured by a woman's ability to fit into Davis' life and satisfy his needs. However, when a possible conflict between women and music arises, which will emerge as the more important is not in doubt:
I love women. I never needed any help or ever had any trouble finding women. I just like to be with them, talking and shit like that. But I never have messed with a musician's girlfriend. Never. Even if she hadn't been with him for very long. You never know when you might have to hire a musician to play with you. You don't want no shit like that getting in the way of what you will be playing together (403).
Even Davis' morality is here revealed as a facet of his passion for music. What helps him musically is good, and what hurts him musically is bad. He leaves women when they become detrimental to him musically, just as he gives up drugs when they hurt rather than help him express himself in his music.
The weakness of the book--Davis' unrelenting immaturity and self-centeredness--is also its greatest strength, for that immaturity and self-centeredness translate into an uncensored and compelling narrative voice. Undoubtedly, Davis is a musical genius of the jazz realm, a unique talent like no other, but, in his personal life, in his life outside of musical creation, he is a spoiled child who almost always is able to do and say whatever he wants whenever he wants.
The narrative voice which results from this combination is
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