[2] The following year, The New York Times reported that author Louis Lomax was collaborating with Mingus in the writing and editing of "an eight-year-old, portly, angry manuscript of 1,500 pages", and that publishers in France and Japan had bid for the book.

[3] The original proposed title was Memoirs of a Half Yellow Schitt Covered Nigger.

"[7] The Washington Post's reviewer stated that the book is "sexual fantasy and tortured personality conflict", and complained that there was little information about Mingus' music or those he played with.

"[1] The original manuscript was acquired, along with other material documenting Mingus' life, by the Library of Congress in 1993.

[6] Readings from the book were included in Hal Willner's recording, Weird Nightmare: Meditations on Mingus.