****Perfect for fans of The United States vs. Billie Holiday, this is
the fiercely honest, no-holds-barred memoir of the legendary jazz,
swing, and standards singing sensation--a fiftieth-anniversary edition
updated with stunning new photos, a revised discography, and an
insightful foreword by music writer David Ritz
*
*Taking the reader on a fast-moving journey from Billie Holiday's
rough-and-tumble Baltimore childhood (where she ran errands at a
whorehouse in exchange for the chance to listen to Louis Armstrong and
Bessie Smith albums), to her emergence on Harlem's club scene, to
sold-out performances with the Count Basie Orchestra and with Artie Shaw
and his band, this revelatory memoir is notable for its trenchant
observations on the racism that darkened Billie's life and the heroin
addiction that ended it too soon.
We are with her during the mesmerizing debut of "Strange Fruit"; with
her as she rubs shoulders with the biggest movie stars and musicians of
the day (Bob Hope, Lana Turner, Clark Gable, Benny Goodman, Lester
Young, Coleman Hawkins, and more); and with her through the scrapes with
Jim Crow, spats with Sarah Vaughan, ignominious jailings, and tragic
decline. All of this is told in Holiday's tart, streetwise style and hip
patois that makes it read as if it were written yesterday.