Bitter Crop
Paul Alexander
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From the publisher
A revelatory look at the tumultuous life of a jazz legend and American cultural icon
'Paul Alexander tells her story in a way that could put her soul and our questions to rest' Gloria Steinem
'Bitter Crop shows just what lay behind that tragic, transcendent gift' Sunday Times
'Magnificent' Irish Times
A SUNDAY TIMES BEST MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR
A DAILY EXPRESS BOOK OF THE YEAR
Bitter Crop is an unconventional portrait of arguably America’s most eminent jazz singer. Acclaimed biographer Paul Alexander shrewdly focuses on the last year of her life – with relevant flashbacks to provide context – to evoke and examine the persistent magnificence of Holiday’s artistry when it was supposed to have declined, in the wake of her drug abuse, relationships with violent men, and run-ins with the law.
During her lifetime and after her death, Billie Holiday was often depicted as a down-on-her-luck junkie severely lacking in self-esteem. Relying on interviews with people who knew her and new material unearthed in private collections and institutional archives, Bitter Crop limns Holiday as a powerful, ambitious woman who overcame her flaws to triumph as a vital figure of American popular music.