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ruthmoog's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
I was pleased to get to know Billy Strayhorn through this book, which celebrates his music, talent, style, queerness, and blackness, and mourns his death. The end had me bawling.
What I didn't enjoy was that several sections felt like lists of song titles, many of them unfamiliar and many unrecorded; it was a bit of a drudge.
I was recommended the book because of Billy's relationship with the Copasetics, although Honi Coles in particular features as a father figure, the narrative is very much about Billy (and Duke Ellington) than the Copasetics, but it's still worth a read for tap dancers, for the origin and impact of "A Train" alone!
What I didn't enjoy was that several sections felt like lists of song titles, many of them unfamiliar and many unrecorded; it was a bit of a drudge.
I was recommended the book because of Billy's relationship with the Copasetics, although Honi Coles in particular features as a father figure, the narrative is very much about Billy (and Duke Ellington) than the Copasetics, but it's still worth a read for tap dancers, for the origin and impact of "A Train" alone!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Racism
Assassination, civil rights movement, cancer, drunk driving
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