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Bitter Crop
- The Heartache and Triumph of Billie Holiday's Last Year
- Narrated by: Maya Days
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
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Publisher's summary
A revelatory look at the tumultuous life of a jazz legend and American cultural icon
“A book written as only one artist could view another, with insight and sincere compassion.”—Sandra Cisneros, best-selling author of Woman Without Shame
In the first biography of Billie Holiday in more than two decades, Paul Alexander—author of heralded lives of Sylvia Plath and J. D. Salinger—gives us an unconventional portrait of arguably America’s most eminent jazz singer. He shrewdly focuses on the last year of her life—with relevant flashbacks to provide context—to evoke and examine the persistent magnificence of Holiday’s artistry when it was supposed to have declined, in the wake of her drug abuse, relationships with violent men, and run-ins with the law.
During her lifetime and after her death, Billie Holiday was often depicted as a down-on-her-luck junkie severely lacking in self-esteem. Relying on interviews with people who knew her, and new material unearthed in private collections and institutional archives, Bitter Crop—a reference to the last two words of Strange Fruit, her moving song about lynching—limns Holiday as a powerful, ambitious woman who overcame her flaws to triumph as a vital figure of American popular music.
Critic reviews
“Making it as real as if you had been there, Paul Alexander has done an incomparable job bringing to life both elements of his title. He shows us the malice and ignorance of Billie’s accusers and eventual killers, the love and support of friends, and her own courage and purity of heart. A must-read for all lovers of the immortal Lady Day.”—Dan Morgenstern, executive director emeritus, Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University
“The unfinished life of Billie Holiday haunts us. In Bitter Crop, Paul Alexander tells her story in a way that could put her soul and our questions to rest.”—Gloria Steinem, award-winning author and political activist
“Perhaps only in this century can we fully change the narrative of Billie Holiday. Billie was a trespasser of taboos, a woman of tenderness and terror, whose story is repeated again and again by working-class women of color. This is a heartfelt ballad of a book written as only one artist could view another, with insight and sincere compassion.”—Sandra Cisneros, best-selling author of Woman Without Shame
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- By: James Kaplan
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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From the author of the definitive biography of Frank Sinatra, the story of how jazz arrived at the pinnacle of American culture in 1959, told through the journey of three towering artists—Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans—who came together to create the most iconic jazz album of all time, Kind of Blue.
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The history of 3 jazz greats
- By L. Sorogheye on 04-14-24
By: James Kaplan
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How to Win an Information War
- The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler
- By: Peter Pomerantsev
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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In the summer of 1941, Hitler ruled Europe from the Atlantic to the Black Sea. Britain was struggling to combat his powerful propaganda machine, crowing victory and smearing his enemies as liars and manipulators over his frequent radio speeches, blasted out on loudspeakers and into homes. British claims that Hitler was dangerous had little impact against this wave of disinformation. Except for the broadcasts of someone called Der Chef, a German who questioned Nazi doctrine, and most importantly, a character created by the British propagandist Thomas Sefton Delmer, a unique weapon in the war.
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fascinating story
- By Mark on 03-19-24
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I Heard Her Call My Name
- A Memoir of Transition
- By: Lucy Sante
- Narrated by: Lucy Sante
- Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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For a long time, Lucy Sante felt unsure of her place. Born in Belgium, the only child of conservative working-class Catholic parents who transplanted their little family to the United States, she felt at home only when she moved to New York City in the early 1970s and found her people among a band of fellow bohemians.
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This is a gift to listen - I will return to it
- By Curious Artist Librarian on 04-12-24
By: Lucy Sante