Going My Way: Bing Crosby and American Culture [Hardcover]

Ruth Prigozy (Editor), Walter Raubicheck (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2007

Going My Way: Bing Crosby and American Culture is the first serious study of the singer/actor's art and of his centrality to the history of twentieth-century popular music, film, and the entertainment industry. The volume uses a wide range of scholarly and cultural perspectives to explore Crosby's unique and lasting achievements. It also includes tributes and reminiscences from Bing's widow Kathryn, his grandson Steve, his record producer Ken Barnes, and one of his most popular successors, Michael Feinstein. Other contributors include Gary Giddins, the author of a widely acclaimed recent biography of the singer, and Will Friedwald, the acknowledged expert on the development of the "great American songbook." In addition to studying Bing Crosby's innovations and remarkable achievements as a recording artist, Going My Way explores his accomplishments as an actor, businessman, and radio and television performer. Going My Way makes an impressive case not only for Crosby's considerable talent and inimitable style, but also for his raising the quality of popular singing to the level of art.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The splendid essays in Going My Way form an intricate collage that captures Crosby at the intersection of so many aspects of American culture. From jazz to film, Catholicism to cartoons, rock 'n' roll to the revolutionary taping of broadcasts, Crosby emerges as a more complex and fascinating figure than any single biographer or historian could render. -- Philip Furia, professor of creative writing, University of North Carolina, Wilmington This is a fine book about one of the great entertainers in America. It tells of our culture and of one of the biggest stars America ever had, one I was privileged to know and work with. Not only was Bing Crosby the best singer I ever heard but he was also a great actor, and he brought humor and honesty to anything he did. Going My Way captures the essence of Bing. --Margaret Whiting

The splendid essays in Going My Way form an intricate collage that captures Crosby at the intersection of so many aspects of American culture. From jazz to film, Catholicism to cartoons, rock 'n' roll to the revolutionary taping of broadcasts, Crosby emerges as a more complex and fascinating figure than any single biographer or historian could render. --Philip Furia, professor of creative writing, University of North Carolina, Wilmington

About the Author

Ruth Prigozy is professor of English at Hofstra University. Walter Raubicheck is professor of English and chair of the department at Pace University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: University of Rochester Press (November 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580462618
• ISBN-13: 978-1580462617
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,801,738 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #17 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( C ) > Crosby, Bing

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Bing Crosby, March 27, 2008

By 

Ronald G. Field (Bermagui. NSW. Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Going My Way: Bing Crosby and American Culture (Hardcover)

Some nice photos and good reading but I'm not into the 'heavy dissection' of things and this, for me, took away from the articles. I feel like I should be a surgeon at times.
A nice presentation though.
Anything Bing is good as far as I'm concerned.