Lady Sings the Blues | 
so-soMark Murphy points out that “Billie Holiday always gave the emotional value that the songwriter had intended. That is why so many songwriters enjoy hearing her.” (Listen to: Strange Fruit & All of Me). This misses that Holiday could have been a hell of a song writer herself. The sentences she write and the phrases she turns in this autobiography show the world as it is, with a nod to it not being how it ought to be. Each line could be a song.
pickOn the one hand this book is a treasure - Billie Holiday telling her life story in her own words. There feels like very little interference from the “ghostwriter” William Dufty. On the other hand, there is no addition of context from Dufty either - Billie talks about people and places that you‘ll probably need to Google and skips over many incidents with little detail. ⬇️
Hit a local bookstore while on vacation in KC. Rainy Day Books was charming & the staff was lovely. I even managed to snag a book at the Jazz Museum - which I highly recommend.
Look at the great #kindlitsy gift I received from @Butterfinger 😊 This is a book I‘ve wanted to read for ages. Thank you so much! 🎄
so-soI enjoyed this book. It was an interesting look at a pretty unique life. Billie Holiday was a pretty big personality and it comes through in her book.
Anyone read this? I'm feeling like for $1.99 I may have to give it a try!
Highlight of my week: Tuesday night classes @ Jazz at Lincoln Center. This term I'm taking Billie Holiday and the Swing song tradition. Excited to finally read this memoir'ish, fiction'ish account.
