Description
Book SynopsisThe incredible true story of a 1950s singer who made a unique contribution to music history and
then mysteriously disappeared and was never seen again.
Trade ReviewIt takes a great journalist to find the stories behind the mysteries we carry. Howard Fishman has done that with his superb examination of Connie Converse. -- Ken Burns
So powerful...
A totemic accomplishment and indispensable guide. The exhaustive care with which Fishman approaches his subject is itself
hypnotic, even devastating. * Los Angeles Review of Books *
Nothing short of remarkable. * Publishers Weekly *
[
To Anyone Who Ever Asks] is the
grandly researched portrait of a talent who didn't get her due, a kind of worst-case study of why this indignity remains a brutally common occurrence ... [it]is simultaneously the record of an obsession and its ultimate payoff.
It's hard to think of any book that grants such loving attention to an artist who has otherwise been denied it. * Washington Post *
A massive and fascinating feat. * MOJO Magazine *
Uncovers a haunting picture of a troubled life. * UNCUT *
Gripping and searching... Mr. Fishman's
thoughtful and deeply researched book provides a far bolder jolt than any cover version can provide. It may yet help find for Converse what the author proposes-a place at 'the table of great American artists and thinkers'. * Wall Street Journal *
[Fishman's] enthusiasm and diligence is infectious . . . Through the obsession of such dedicated fans as Fishman, Connie Converse will find a larger audience. * Kirkus *
Musician, culture writer, and playwright Fishman's extraordinary trek through the life and works of Connie Converse is a laudable endeavor... the author constructs
an emotional narrative ... [
To Anyone Who Ever Asks is]
an interesting foray into Converse's glimmer of fame and sad subsequent neglect. * Library Journal *
The mystery of American composer Connie Converse's disappearance in 1974 is ongoing, and she may be lost forever. But
her spectacular work has been rescued and elevated to a marvelous level by Howard Fishman. Her music belongs to an America that barely knows it exists. -- William Kennedy, Pulitzer prize-winning author of IRONWEED
Connie Converse's songs are a revelation, finely wrought, wry, as beautiful as they are weird. I'm so grateful this enigmatic writer and her catalogue are being explored and celebrated, in this book and beyond. -- Anaïs Mitchell, Tony and Grammy-winning creator of HADESTOWN, and author of WORKING ON A SONG
Packed with detective-level details about a Renaissance woman whose work passed through this world all but unnoticed. * Boston Globe *
