The language saves this novel from the now conventional structure in which the ending is revealed at the beginning and the middle is spent getting back to the beginning. The Nazis are "boots", men are "jacks", women are "janes". Three black jazz musicians (two Americans, one African/German) make it out of Berlin to Paris, where they meet Louis Armstrong. They record the title track, which later becomes the subject of a documentary that brings all three characters back together. We know that the two Americans survive the Nazis, and about a third of the way in we know the German does as well, but getting to the end is worth the price on the ticket.
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