Buy used: $1.30
$3.98 delivery April 29 - 30. Details
Used: Good | Details
Condition: Used: Good
Comment: Item in good condition. Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc...
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

White Christmas: The Story of an American Song Hardcover – September 30, 2003

4.8 out of 5 stars 35

When Irving Berlin first conceived the song "White Christmas," he envisioned it as a "throwaway" -- a satirical novelty number for a vaudeville-style stage revue. By the time Bing Crosby introduced the tune in the winter of 1942, it had evolved into something far grander: the stately yuletide ballad that would become the world's all-time top-selling and most widely recorded song.

In this vividly written narrative, Jody Rosen provides both the fascinating story behind the making of America's favorite Christmas carol and a cultural history of the nation that embraced it. Berlin, the Russian-Jewish immigrant who became his adopted country's greatest pop troubadour, had written his magnum opus -- what one commentator has called a "holiday Moby-Dick" -- a timeless song that resonates with some of the deepest themes in American culture: yearning for a mythic New England past, belief in the magic of the "merry and bright" Christmas season, longing for the havens of home and hearth. Today, the song endures not just as an icon of the national Christmas celebration but as the artistic and commercial peak of the golden age of popular song, a symbol of the values and strivings of the World War II generation, and of the saga of Jewish-American assimilation. With insight and wit, Rosen probes the song's musical roots, uncovering its surprising connections to the tradition of blackface minstrelsy and exploring its unique place in popular culture through six decades of recordings by everyone from Bing Crosby to Elvis Presley to *NSYNC. White Christmas chronicles the song's legacy from jaunty ragtime-era Tin Pan Alley to the elegant world of midcentury Broadway and Hollywood, from the hardscrabble streets where Irving Berlin was reared to the battlefields of World War II where American GIs made "White Christmas" their wartime anthem, and from the Victorian American past that the song evokes to the twenty-first-century present where Berlin's masterpiece lives on as a kind of secular hymn.


The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With its references to glistening treetops and sleigh bells in the snow, Irving Berlin's dreamy ballad has become a monstrously popular classic. Since its 1942 debut (softly crooned by Bing Crosby), artists from Doris Day to the Flaming Lips have recorded their own versions of the tune; it's become the world's most frequently recorded song. Music journalist Rosen offers a perfect, compact book chronicling the song's birth, initial reception and rise to popularity, simultaneously giving readers an understanding of the iconic Berlin and 1940s American popular culture. The prolific songwriter couldn't read or write music, yet composed continually, using his "musical secretary," Helmy Kresa, to pen the songs he wrote on the piano. Berlin introduced "White Christmas" to Kresa on January 8, 1940. Rosen explains the song's little-known introduction (which sets the narrator in California, longing for cold weather); offers interpretations of the song's escapist appeal (like so many popular songs of its time, it doesn't acknowledge the Great Depression's hardships); and comments on the prevalence of Jewish composers in that era's popular song business (Berlin himself was an Eastern European Jewish immigrant). The unsentimental writing and thorough research Rosen draws on such sources as Berlin's family and music scholars make this a delightful testament to the power of one simple song.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

New York Times contributor Rosen offers a thoroughly researched book that traces the history of the beloved Irving Berlin song from its conception to the present. In an accessible style, with marvelous turns of phrase, he addresses the phenomenally popular recordings by Bing Crosby, the song's pivotal role in the 1942 film, Holiday Inn, and its iconic status as one of the best-selling song sheets of the 20th century. Rosen delves into Berlin's family life, his repudiation of his orthodox Jewish upbringing, and his compositional technique. In addition, Rosen considers when the song was actually written, its popularity among troops during World War II, and the "competition" between "White Christmas" and "God Bless America" as the favorite Irving Berlin song, especially in the context of 9/11. Along the way, Rosen limns the cultural underpinnings of the song and the role of Jewish Americans in the creative arts, with somewhat mixed results; his intention is admirable, but at times he overstates his case and resorts to odd word or phrase choices. However, these and a few other errors are small distractions from one of the first available titles to treat this specific song. Recommended for all collections.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scribner (September 30, 2003)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0743218752
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0743218757
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.75 x 0.75 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 out of 5 stars 35

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Jody Rosen
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
35 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2018
I loved this book! It’s a kind of cultural biography of the song—putting it into the context of its time, as well as the Tin Pan Alley tradition that spawned it—along with being a mini-biography of songwriter Irving Berlin. It’s full of little hisorical tidbits that make it a fun and engaging read.
Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2017
Who would have thought that there could be a whole book about this song? But there is, and a most enjoyable one at that. This is a highly entertaining tale about the life and career of Irving Berlin, including the writing of White Christmas, and how the song came to be such an enduring and widely popular hit.
Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2003
I thought that this book was just outstanding. I would give it 6 stars if I could. I thought that the writing was excellent (I found myself frequently flipping back a few pages just to re-read certain passages over again), and that it was endlessly fascinating. The material on the relationship of Jews to Christmas is particularly interesting, as is the author's discussion of the myth of the "recent" commercialization of Christmas. He treats both Berlin and the song itself in a clear-headed yet loving way. I cannot recommend this little book highly enough and I congratulate (and thank) the author for a marvelously entertaining book.
7 people found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2017
I am a sucker for Christmas, the song, the movies and Irving Berlin. The author wanders a bit afield to fill the book, but it is a very interesting ride.
One person found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2018
I love Irivng Berlin and this was exceptionally good reading.
Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2012
I just want to quickly say that this was great and interesting reading about both the song and Mr. Berlin, an America Standard like Norman Rockwell....If you love Irving Berlin and his great America music, you will thoroughly enjoy this book....
One person found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2012
The book arrived quickly and was exactly as described. This is a very interesting history of a most popular Christmas song. When I hear the song in the future it will have a much deeper meaning for me.
Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2012
This book was a gift and was well received. It arrived quickly and in perfect condition. My sister in-law said that the book contributed alot of information to make the movie even more enjoyable.

Top reviews from other countries

F. Blades
5.0 out of 5 stars Borrowed this book from the local library. Returned it ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 16, 2014
Borrowed this book from the local library. Returned it and a few months later borrowed it again. I decided not to borrow it a third time, and bought a copy! Much more than just the story of the best-selling song of all time, but an overview of the social history of songwriting and the music industry in the 120th century.
John Grant
5.0 out of 5 stars A Christmas Present
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 17, 2012
This is one of the most entertaining non-fiction books I have read. It is a treat for anyone with an interest in popular music, 20th century American culture and the creation of the modern Christmas. The writing style is breezy and the book brims with "I didn't know that" facts. Makes a great stocking stuffer!
ralph_allan
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 29, 2016
Fantastic and well researched book covering the culture and context of one of the finest songs ever written.