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Lady Sings the Blues
 
 
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Lady Sings the Blues (Paperback)

by Billie Holiday (Author), William Dufty (Author)
Key Phrases: New York, Joe Glaser, John Levy (more...)
4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)


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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This work presents the Billie Holiday story - her rise to the top from the slums and the streets, to the eventual slide down.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 208 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (March 6, 1984)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0140067620
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140067620
  • Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 6.2 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #228,711 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category: (What's this?)

    #77 in  Books > Entertainment > Music > Reference > Discographies & Buyer's Guides

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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:
 (5)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars the good, the bad & the ugly...beautifully recounted, March 13, 2000
By Johnny Roulette (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
I picked this book up because the woman's voice moves me. I wanted to learn more about her; wanted to know where all of the pain and dignity came from. I'll admit that I was apprehensive...I was certain that her version of the story would be sugar-coated. My fears were unfounded. Billie doesn't leave anything out. She seems to understand that darker points of her life were where the gift was coming from. She candidly discusses her heroin & alcohol addictions, as well as a brief bout of prostitution. She was as interesting as she was talented. Hers is assuredly a harrowing tale, but it is tempered with dignity, honesty & intelligence. She possessed a wisdom that can only derive from a lifetime of tragic mistakes. My one complaint would be that the disturbing chain of events leading to her death aren't covered here. But, alas, this is an autobiography & death can't really be covered in an autobiography. Get her life from her...try Donald Clarke's Wishing On The Moon: The Life & Times Of Billie Holiday(Viking/1994) for adequate coverage of her untimely death. There is enough trgedy and triumph in Lady Sings to satisfy the strongest craving. Ms. Holiday & Mr. Duffy educated me about jazz and its lifestyle, but, more than that, they made me want to know more...to experience more. Lady Sings The Blues is an amazing chronicle of one of music's most gifted and soulful human beings. If you have the slightest spark of interest, you would be cheating yourself by passing on this wonderfully haunting book. Billie Holiday saw that her story's value was dependent upon absolute honesty on her part. This book would mean nothing without it.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Glimpse into a unique life, July 7, 2004
Other reviewers have made the case that this autobiography is less than accurate. That may be true however I believe the book captures the spirit of Billie Holiday as well as the tenor of the times in which she lived and consequently it is an important and very interesting book.

The tragedy surrounding Holiday's life and struggle with addiction is well known and yet here it is dealt with in such a gripping and personal way that the story is moving and emotionally wrenching. Billie Holiday emerges from this book as a warm living human being with a remarkable amount of wisdom regarding her own struggles and failings. One would expect an autobiography to seek to afix blame elsewhere or excuse shortcomings. None of that is found here. This was an inteligent, wise and obviously talented though flawed woman whose story deserves to be told.
Reading this has rekindled my interest in her music and that alone was a great benefit I received from this book.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant, October 13, 2004
By J. Brady (PAWLEYS ISLAND, SC United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This is everything Aretha Franklin's autobiography should have been but wasn't. It is brutally frank, almost scary in its honesty. Nothing is glossed over, including her relationships with men ( and women ) her heroin addiction and her experiences with sexism and racism , both in and out of the music industry. I read this book in one weekend, I just couldn't put it down.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling and unvarnished autobiography
While Billie Holiday had a co-author on this one, the latter thankfully must have served mostly as "scribe and editor," because I could really feel what Billie felt and saw what... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Patrick W. Crabtree

4.0 out of 5 stars inaccurate but honest.
I just finished reading this book and lstened to the 1956 recording of billie's concert at Carnagie hall. Read more
Published on July 13, 2005 by JEFFREYADAMSKY

4.0 out of 5 stars Put back this autobiography within the context of its time
Long before celebrity confessions in magazines such as People Weekly, and when a pecadillo we'd find trivial today could still kill a career, it wasn't expected that a celebrity... Read more
Published on June 14, 2005 by winifred_winthrop

4.0 out of 5 stars She sang what she felt
Billie Holliday lived a sad and tortured life. She was always a victim. A victim of the racist times, the men, the music and everyone else who took advantage of her. Read more
Published on December 8, 2003 by ghost

4.0 out of 5 stars A touching, important book.
I felt compelled to write this review because I thought it was important to respond to so many of the comments that criticize this book for its fictionality. Read more
Published on March 11, 2003 by David Messmer

3.0 out of 5 stars Harrowing
Billie Holliday is probably the most gifted and tragic heroine of her time. She overcame poverty racism and endless failed relationships to become one of the greatest jazz singers... Read more
Published on March 24, 2002 by Michele

3.0 out of 5 stars a good read, but *not true*!
"Mom and Pop were just a couple of kids when they got married. He was eighteen, she was sixteen, and I was three."
These are the first lines on the first page. Read more
Published on November 29, 2001 by capstrmbn

5.0 out of 5 stars A heartbreaking memoir
From the most important singer of last century comes this evocative, heart rendering and realistic book by the Lady herself. Read more
Published on June 20, 2001 by E. Vives Cadevall

3.0 out of 5 stars AUTObiography?
This book has had some exellent reviews, and after reading it I was not disapointed. I totaly agreed with what many people said about the book: It is one of the most honest... Read more
Published on January 31, 2001 by Joel

5.0 out of 5 stars MOST HONEST AUTOBIOGRAPHY EVER WRITTEN
I came across this book at a local library. Never has a more honest reflection of oneself been written. Her words are so vivid on the struggles she has lived through. Read more
Published on November 24, 1999

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