Book excerpt: The inner workings of the jazz “business.” “Off the books” refers to a life lived outside of conventional 9 to 5 society. Jazz music itself is “off the books” as far as much of pop culture is concerned. Many jazz lives have unfolded as marginal existences, as jazz guitarist Peter Leitch attests in this honest memoir. Off the Books: A Jazz Life is the story of a life lived in search of excellence in music and art, but also a life lived battling depression and alienation, and overcoming narcotics addiction. Leitch vividly relates a life lived trying to eke out a living in jazz clubs, nightclubs and studios in Montreal, Toronto and New York. He tells of growing up as an Anglophone in Montreal’s working class and predominantly French-speaking East End refinery district, discovering jazz on CBC radio and learning to play it—outside of the academy.