Luther

The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross

By: Craig Seymour

Narrated by: David Sadzin

Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

On July 1, 2005, the world lost one of the greatest R&B vocalists of all time, Luther Vandross. He left a legacy of some of the most enduring love songs of our age: “Here and Now”, “Superstar”, “If Only for One Night”, and “A House Is Not a Home”. The notoriously secretive star also left behind many questions such as the real-life inspiration behind all of those yearning love songs.

The newly updated and expanded edition of Luther: The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross takes you deep inside the singer’s private world. It chronicles his underdog journey from the projects of New York City’s Lower East Side to the top of the charts, selling more than 20 million albums along the way. The audiobook details Luther’s triumphs, as well as his struggles: his battle with weight; his feuds with Aretha Franklin, Anita Baker, and En Vogue; the 1986 car accident that killed his best friend and nearly destroyed his career; and the rumors about his sexuality that followed him throughout his life.

The audiobook offers specific new details about Luther’s love life that will help illuminate the private pain of the man who brought the world so much joy.

"Seymour's brilliant book is like a great Luther song: elegantly written, effortlessly executed and eloquently delivered." - Michael Eric Dyson

"Craig Seymour paints an intimate portrait of the man behind some of the most beautiful love songs of our time...Full of juicy anecdotes, fast-paced writing, and interesting analysis, the book reveals surprising new dimensions of this much-beloved balladeer." - E. Lynn Harris

"...[A] sympathetic look at the most popular soul singer of his generation." - New York Daily News

©2018 Craig Seymour (P)2018 Craig Seymour

A great biography...

I have never seen a live concert of Luther Vandross, but I like his music a lot and I love biographies.

This audiobook tells his interesting story and in a sense brings him back for a couple of hours. I was nicely entertained by the book and would like to recommend it for all who like music and biographies.

Moreover, David Sadzin does a great job in narrating Luther's story. I like his voice very much.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

YOU"LL LOVE IT!

I loved it. I'm fascinated with biographies. I enjoy learning about the different aspects of famous people (their beginnings, struggles and triumphs)! The narration was great. The author did a great job with the character details. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Gone to soon

I have always loved Luther Vandross because his voice was truly one sent from the heavens. The fact that he never really received recognition from the pop world till the end of his career is reprehensible of our society. That being said, hearing some background of some of the stories I heard in the past was informative. The orator should not have sung but the narration of this book was well done. Recommend to everyone who wants to know a little more about the great one that is Luther.

Exciting read! !

One of my favorite R&B artists! Enjoyed learning about the connection with other artists. Learning about his struggles. We all have them. His story was relatable.

Touching

This book gave an interesting look inside Luther Vandross life! Some people think they know but really don't, may he rest in peace.

A great story.

I generally don't write reviews but this was an excellent listen. I didn't realize how much Mr. Vandross struggled with himself as well as the music industry. He struggled so much to be acknowledged by the industry and the world. I don't know if I could have continued despite the constant rejection after rejection (I stopped counting at some point). What I realize in this listen is that we need to take better care of our emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being as we work in purpose. Despite all the successes Mr. Vandross didn't have all the tools in place to overcome the stresses and struggles of his life. Thankful for the insight into the Ambassador of Love.

Will We Ever Know The Reak Luther

Luther was an extraordinary talent of which I was unaware. So much more than a wonderful singer of love songs. As much as he seemed to understand love it is such a shame he never found it in his life.

There much information here about his talent but the author only scratched the surface of who was the real Luther. That said, you still walk away knowing a little more about Luther than what you saw on TV or read in magazine articles.

Struggled with the narrator. His voice was not right for this particular subject and he was cringe worthy when he sang-spoke lyrics. Sometimes his pronunciations and inflections were off.

Sad story if a very gifted man

If you are a Luther fan by all means this is worth the purchase it does shed some light on his struggles with his sexuality and his underlying struggles with his religion as it relates to his sexuality how sad for such a man with such talent to never have the courage to come out and be who he was in spite of his sexuality what a sad commentary for the world at that time

Perfect title..Life and Longing

Author Craig Seymour gives us a glimpse of the private life of artist Luther Vandross. We are taken on a journey of a man who had a giving heart...often to the point of being unable to say NO. A man who, to many, had everything, but battled personal demons his entire life.

Seymour helps us to understand both the people who entered Luther's life (Bette Midler, Dionne Warwick) as well as Luther's desire for his fellow artists to perform at his/her best. He was a perfectionist and, I think, a people pleaser. With the brilliant narration of David Sadzin, we can feel Luther's heartache, pain, anger and longing. Sadzin allows the listener to be the fly on the wall as the events unfold.

I was really moved by this piece. I grew up listening to Vandross, Anita Baker, Sister Sledge, Lionel Ritchie and many other black artists. I never once really thought about the music industry. How the boundaries or expectations can sometimes break the artist's original dream to create and be true to oneself. I was deeply saddened in Vandross' wanderings. I truly believe that he was both lost within and disheartened by, the industry. An industry that he adored so much, and like an immature lover, took everything Vandross had to give...always demanding more.

Seymour presents the listener with factual events and commentary by both Vandross and artists he (Vandross) would eventually consider to be friends. He allows the listener to form his/her own opinion about Vandross' longing and life, as the book is titled.

An excellent title for anyone who enjoys biographies.

I received this title free from the author/narrator. My review is voluntarily submitted.

CONTAINS: Language (not suitable for young children)

WOW - A BETTER UNDERSTANDING....

I loved listening to this! I've always loved Luther's voice, but never really knew much about him. It's always so fascinating to learn about someone who created such great music, great words, great experiences, to so many millions of people. I mean to reach people in that way, in a lasting, stick-with-you-forever way... that's something truly special. But, usually the wonderful words written and sung by so many great performers, are born from pain, suffering, longing, anguish. I too always aim to please, mostly at my own expense, and know how it can be both a blessing and a burden. What a revealing piece on Mr. Vandross, it's been a pleasure to listen to this, loved the writing and narration :)
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.