Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
challenging
dark
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
crazy!!
By the time I was on the thirty-third I signaled Bobby to skip "Night and Day," and by the time I started on “Strange Fruit,” between the sweat and blood, I was a mess. p.169
I even began to catch myself thinking I might be happy one day again. That, as usual, was fatal. p. 177
Look at my big dream! It’s always been to have a big place of my own in the country someplace where I could take care of stray dogs and orphan kids, kids that didn’t ask to be born; kids that didn’t ask to be black, blue, or green, or something in between. p.196
I even began to catch myself thinking I might be happy one day again. That, as usual, was fatal. p. 177
Look at my big dream! It’s always been to have a big place of my own in the country someplace where I could take care of stray dogs and orphan kids, kids that didn’t ask to be born; kids that didn’t ask to be black, blue, or green, or something in between. p.196
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
i have lots of feelings circulating around billie holiday’s autography.
this couldn’t have been an easy thing for her to do: to share how she was nearly raped at 10, to a full violation at 12...or to talk about her constant encounters of racism and sexism. her failed marriages. never mind her addiction to opium and heroin and jail time.
but billie is a straight-shooter if i ever read one, and i admire her for her willingness to air it all out for the world to see.
of course, i adore her music, but it was her perseverance to follow her passion up mountains and mountains of struggles that really gets me. boy, did lady day know her worth. her determination to never be pushed around or to never settle is impressive to say the least— and her willingness to take the blame for a lot of self-made problems, from choosing bad partners to using again, brings me admiration all the same.
billie was a strange ‘spitfire yet sweetheart’ sort of mix, in my opinion: bold and brave while supportive and appreciative of those she loved.
she was true, through and through. “you can’t copy anybody and end up with anything,” billie wrote, “if you copy, it means you’re working without any real feeling. and without feeling, whatever you do amounts to nothing.” billie was her beautiful, loving, troubled self until her last breath. in the end, that’s all you can ask for in a person, ain’t it? thanks for sharing your story, miss day.
this couldn’t have been an easy thing for her to do: to share how she was nearly raped at 10, to a full violation at 12...or to talk about her constant encounters of racism and sexism. her failed marriages. never mind her addiction to opium and heroin and jail time.
but billie is a straight-shooter if i ever read one, and i admire her for her willingness to air it all out for the world to see.
of course, i adore her music, but it was her perseverance to follow her passion up mountains and mountains of struggles that really gets me. boy, did lady day know her worth. her determination to never be pushed around or to never settle is impressive to say the least— and her willingness to take the blame for a lot of self-made problems, from choosing bad partners to using again, brings me admiration all the same.
billie was a strange ‘spitfire yet sweetheart’ sort of mix, in my opinion: bold and brave while supportive and appreciative of those she loved.
she was true, through and through. “you can’t copy anybody and end up with anything,” billie wrote, “if you copy, it means you’re working without any real feeling. and without feeling, whatever you do amounts to nothing.” billie was her beautiful, loving, troubled self until her last breath. in the end, that’s all you can ask for in a person, ain’t it? thanks for sharing your story, miss day.
Edit: giving up on the last 40 pages. The material is thin, weak and unworthy.
On to the next.
-
I’m simply not cut out to be a jazz singer. Watching reruns on Amazon Prime TV with a glass of wine is more my speed. As soon as you need someone to fight off half-naked execs (or regular execs) or fend off H’d up Baltimore hookers, I’m not your girl.
Nevertheless, I can still read about these crazy “cats” from the safety of my bed, in my nice warm house with Wifi and snacks.
Anyway, I like Billie. I’m more of an Ella gal myself, but the title of this book intrigued me and I realized I didn’t know anything about the Strange Fruit woman who has her portrait inexplicably hanging in every Keg Steakhouse.
The book itself is just okay. I know she didn’t write it, her best friends husband did, so I’ll cut it a bit of slack. Still, the strongest points of this book are all at the beginning. The middle is, well, MIDDLING, and it just sort of silos itself into a bunch of little 20 page episodes. It also feels pretty tame? Besides the above-mentioned hookers and naked execs, it doesn’t feel all that harrowing and gritty and gross as I’m sure it was. The woman pickled her liver by her 45th birthday, for goodness sake. Don’t play it coy!
I’m at page 150 - halfway. Will update on the rest later.
On to the next.
-
I’m simply not cut out to be a jazz singer. Watching reruns on Amazon Prime TV with a glass of wine is more my speed. As soon as you need someone to fight off half-naked execs (or regular execs) or fend off H’d up Baltimore hookers, I’m not your girl.
Nevertheless, I can still read about these crazy “cats” from the safety of my bed, in my nice warm house with Wifi and snacks.
Anyway, I like Billie. I’m more of an Ella gal myself, but the title of this book intrigued me and I realized I didn’t know anything about the Strange Fruit woman who has her portrait inexplicably hanging in every Keg Steakhouse.
The book itself is just okay. I know she didn’t write it, her best friends husband did, so I’ll cut it a bit of slack. Still, the strongest points of this book are all at the beginning. The middle is, well, MIDDLING, and it just sort of silos itself into a bunch of little 20 page episodes. It also feels pretty tame? Besides the above-mentioned hookers and naked execs, it doesn’t feel all that harrowing and gritty and gross as I’m sure it was. The woman pickled her liver by her 45th birthday, for goodness sake. Don’t play it coy!
I’m at page 150 - halfway. Will update on the rest later.
Es una historia muy dura de una diva. Me ha encantado la crudeza con la que muestra el rechazo a los negros y creo que son unas memorias que a los verdaderos amantes les van a encantar
reflective
sad
medium-paced
dark
emotional
informative
A thoroughly unaffected and gritty view of existence as a black woman in the early 20th Century - specifically, a bold and unflinching woman in the public eye. From jaded accounts to ecstatic recollections, Holiday paints a picture of the dark, disgusting and revolting sides of the "Greatest Generation". A series of vignettes showing both the beauty and depravity of the burgeoning "Land of the Free", as it enters the modern age.