Miles is the autobiography of Miles Davis, one of the greatest jazz musicians of the twentieth century. Miles grows up in a wealthy black family in Illinois where he discovers his love for music. As a young man, Miles moves to New York City where he plunges into the jazz scene by spending time with music greats, Charlie "Bird" Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Eventually Miles launches his own career and has several bands of his own over forty years of playing the music he loves. Miles Davis is born on 26, 1926, in Alton, Illinois, a town on the Mississippi River north of East St. Louis. He is named Miles Dewey Davis III after his father and grandfather but everyone in the family calls him Junior. Miles is raised in a well-to-do family; his father is a dentist and his mother is a talented pianist. Miles is interested in sports as a young boy but his passion for music is ignited around the age of twelve after hearing music from Harlem played on the radio. After graduating high school, Miles moves to New York City to attend the Juilliard School of Music but he drops out because he wants to learn jazz from playing with legends such as Charlie "Bird" Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Miles' gift for music is clearly evident and he has the enviable position of playing with Bird, Dizzy, Charlie Mingus, Thelonious Monk, Clark Terry, Max Roach and others. Before long, Miles breaks out and forms his own bands, hiring and firing musicians to support his evolving styles. Miles' personal life mirrors the volatility of his musical career and he has three children with Irene Birth, a woman he never marries. Miles does marry two times; first to Frances Taylor and later to Cicely Tyson. Throughout the years, Miles is involved with many women even during the times he is married. His use of heroin and cocaine also become huge destructive forces in his life which wreck not only his music but also his personal relationships. Miles has a self-destructive bent to his personality and his fierce protection of black people, especially black musicians, alienates him from mainstream critics and media. As Miles ages, he suffers from sickle cell anemia and diabetes, both of which compromise his stamina but he perseveres in his music and his vision for the future of music. Through it all, Miles is a survivor and he outlasts many of his jazz contemporaries from the age of bebop. Miles dies in September of 1991 from a stroke, pneumonia and respiratory complications.