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2.77 AVERAGE
2.77 AVERAGE
Pinceladas de la vida de la gran Billie Holiday, especialmente su relación con el amigo al que más quiso a lo largo de su vida: Lester Young. Problemas con la policía, con los hombres con los que se relacionó. En su forma de hablar a la policía vislumbramos el fuerte carácter que tuvo, cómo nunca permitió que la hiciesen de menos por ser negra. Una vida marcada por las discriminación y el sufrimiento.
This is a graphic novel does not shy away from the abuse Holiday faced during her brief life. The premise consists of a reporter doing a story about her life for the 50th anniversary of her death. What we get are snippets on how men used and abused the singer. While I enjoyed reading it, I would have appreciated a more nuanced view of the singer's life.
The introduction to this graphic novel should've been a warning of what was to come, as it was so disrespectfully written. If you love Lady Day, this is a graphic novel to avoid.
I'm not sure why the three men involved in this production (writer, illustrator, and introduction writer) decided they had any understanding of Billie Holiday's life, nor why they wrote this bizarre, disjointed story about a journalist tasked with writing a tribute to it 30 years after her tragic death. If you're looking for a bunch of clichés about how the most brilliant Black jazz artists of the 1940s and 1950s were nothing more than drug addicts, prostitutes, "fags" (a slur repeated throughout, in reference to Lester Young), and otherwise the scum of the earth whose existence was solely for the amusement of white folks, well, this one really hits the racist jackass jackpot.
Frustrating, because a) this is being included in Hoopla's Black History Month spotlight, and b) there are definitely better biographical graphic novels out there that spotlight Black icons. For a better selection, check out SelfMadeHero's Josephine Baker book by Catel and Bocquet, which is a much more sensitive portrait of a complicated woman and beloved artist.
I'm not sure why the three men involved in this production (writer, illustrator, and introduction writer) decided they had any understanding of Billie Holiday's life, nor why they wrote this bizarre, disjointed story about a journalist tasked with writing a tribute to it 30 years after her tragic death. If you're looking for a bunch of clichés about how the most brilliant Black jazz artists of the 1940s and 1950s were nothing more than drug addicts, prostitutes, "fags" (a slur repeated throughout, in reference to Lester Young), and otherwise the scum of the earth whose existence was solely for the amusement of white folks, well, this one really hits the racist jackass jackpot.
Frustrating, because a) this is being included in Hoopla's Black History Month spotlight, and b) there are definitely better biographical graphic novels out there that spotlight Black icons. For a better selection, check out SelfMadeHero's Josephine Baker book by Catel and Bocquet, which is a much more sensitive portrait of a complicated woman and beloved artist.
Una recomendación que me hicieron desde la biblioteca, aunque me dijeron que era un poco duro como resulto ser, es que conocí a una persona que me era totalmente desconocida, y me gusto conocer detalles de ella, aparecen personajes importantes del siglo XX.
Jose Munoz and Carlos Sampayo tell a bold but fragmented tale of Billie Holiday juxtaposing some of her finest moments with some of her darkest ones. A reporter writing a story on the 30 year anniversary of her death digs through notes and remembrances, finding her lovers, her addition, her genius. The heavy black and white give the whole book a noir feel, with lyrics interspersed in a sharp spiky text.
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
The narrative was very difficult to follow. It made me want to read a more formal biography, because this only gave me bits and pieces.
This is a disjointed, ugly mess. The emphasis is on all the terrible people and all the horrible things they did. It barely talks about Billie at all as a human being with any agency. It's literally sickening how they've decided to frame her story. I can only hope that if someone eulogizes me, they don't interview shitty men to tell shitty stories about all my traumas, and they don't get someone to illustrate it in the most graphic way.
poorly-told and irresponsible. ridiculous frame story (a reporter who's never heard of billie holiday, assigned to report on her legacy? ok). the art drifts into racist caricature. the dialogue is stilted and laced with hateful invective. billie holiday herself figures as little more than a tragic cypher.
far better to listen to her music and recognize, through her biography, not only the brutality of US American racism, sexism, and police violence (though these things are central) but also her artistry, courage, and community of supporters and collaborators. her legacy demands a grappling with what Johnn Szwed calls "the musician & the myth." Sampayo and Muñoz's work barely skims the myth.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/03/billie-holiday-musician-myth-review-john-szwed-celebration-true-original
far better to listen to her music and recognize, through her biography, not only the brutality of US American racism, sexism, and police violence (though these things are central) but also her artistry, courage, and community of supporters and collaborators. her legacy demands a grappling with what Johnn Szwed calls "the musician & the myth." Sampayo and Muñoz's work barely skims the myth.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/03/billie-holiday-musician-myth-review-john-szwed-celebration-true-original
I was really interested in seeing an artistic/graphic depiction of Billie Holiday’s life. I’m not sure if that’s what I go with this book. Yes, the visuals were very graphic and I liked the juxtaposition with the narrative moving between Billie Holiday and the reporter reporting on the 30th anniversary of her death, but outside of that the story seemed to me to be lacking. There wasn’t enough being said about the type of person Billie Holiday was and more spent on the image of Billie Holiday as a drug addict, whore. The images were interesting but they weren’t enough to carry this story on its own. If I had known nothing of Billie Holiday, this book would not have informed me of her life story. My view of her would be tainted with drug abuse, prostitution and an untimely death. There is much more to Billie Holiday’s story than that.
Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.