Description
Book SynopsisThe dramatic story of a legendary American composer
Trade Review"More thorough biographies than Mr. Rimler's slender volume exist ... but for those of us interested less in the technical details of Gershwin's music and its performance than in the comet called George Gershwin that blazed briefly across American skies, Mr. Rimler is the astronomer of choice."
The Wall Street Journal"Compact in length and voluminous in its details, Walter Rimler's study of Gershwin is freighted with melancholy—an appropriate parallel with Gershwin's own life."--TLS
"An engrossing, well-written look at Gershwin, the composer and the man, with emphasis on the man."--Choice
"For those of us interested less in the technical details of Gershwin's music and its performance than in the comet called George Gershwin that blazed briefly across American skies, Mr. Rimler is the astronomer of choice."--
Wall Street Journal"Rimler shines in weaving together anecdotes, correspondence and a wealth of interviews with the composer and his contemporaries to create a vibrant, flesh-and-blood picture of the man and his music in a readable and enjoyable book."--
Jerusalem Post"Engagingly written, lavishly illustrated. . . . With this volume, we get a focused portrait of George Gershwin, a genius plagued by self-doubt and a wandering eye."--
Opera News"A dynamic, fast-paced biography of George Gershwin that has the verve and staccato drive of a book the composer himself might have written. Rimler gives us a fuller, more complex, more humorous, and more vulnerable picture of Gershwin than has yet appeared in print."--Philip Furia, coauthor of
The Poets of Tin Pan Alley: A History of America's Great Lyricists"A hugely enjoyable read, this neat, polished package is a skillful condensation of the vast literature on Gershwin but also offers a new critical angle on the composer's achievement."--Stephen Banfield, author of
Jerome KernTable of Contents1.From Street Kid to Wunderkind; 2.Falling in Love With Kay; 3.A Piano Concerto; 4.Ira Takes a Wife; 5.Porgy; 6.Paris; 7."That Long Drip of Human Tears"; 8.The Losing Streak Begins; 9."Something Big"; 10."Don't Make It Too Good, George!"; 11.Kay
