Strange Fruit - Hardcover

Margolick, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0762406771 ISBN 13: 9780762406777

Publisher: Running Press,U.S., 2000

Synopsis

From four-time Pulitzer Prize nominee David Margolick, STRANGE FRUIT explores the story of the memorable civil rights ballad made famous by Billie Holiday in the late 1930s. The song's powerful, evocative lyrics-written by a Jewish communist schoolteacher who, late in life, adopted the children of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg-portray the lynching of a black man in the South. Holiday's performances sparked conflict and controversy wherever she went, and the song has since been covered by Lena Horne, Tori Amos, Sting, and countless others. Margolick's careful reconstruction of the story behind the song, portions of which have appeared in Vanity Fair, includes a discography of "Strange Fruit" recordings as well as newly uncovered photographs that capture Holiday in performance at Greenwich Village's Café Society. A must for jazz aficionados.

About this title

Review:

"This is how cultural history should be told." (Buzz)

"These admiring and admirable pages put both the issues and the verses chicly in perspective for a new century that show few signs of growing out of the need for such spirited arias of rage." (Spectator)

"Compelling biography of arguably the greatest song ever written. Margolick has written a fascinating study of the song's unique power, and if you're feeling strong, a free CD of Holiday's recording comes with the book." (Uncut)

"His prose is an elegant and pared-down as the song, evocative of a brutal period in America's history." (Q Magazine)

"Thanks to a panoply of revealing interviews, Margolick shows how a single 12-line song became a lightning-rod for US attitudes to race." (Independent)

About the Author:

David Margolick is a contributing editor for Vanity Fair. Prior to that, he was the national legal affairs correspondent for the New York Times. He has written four books: Undue Influence: The Epic Battle for the Johnson & Johnson Fortune, At the Bar: Passions and Peccadillos of American Lawyers (a collection of his law columns for the New York Times), Strange Fruit and Beyond Glory: Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling, and a World on the Brink. He has been nominated four times for the Pulitzer Prize. He lives in New York City.

About this edition

• Publisher: Running Press,U.S.
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0762406771
• ISBN 13: 9780762406777
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 144