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Blackburn, Julia. With Billie; a new look at the unforgettable Lady Day.


BLACKBURN Blackburn, city (1991 pop. 109,564) and district, Lancashire, NW England. It was formerly a great cotton-weaving center, noted especially for calicoes. Textiles are still important; other industries produce engineering equipment, electronic components, beer, felt, , Julia. With Billie Billie may refer to: People
  • Billie Joe Armstrong, vocalist and guitarist of Green Day
  • Billie Holiday
  • Billie Jean King, tennis player
  • Billie Livingston, Canadian Author
  • Billie Myers
; a new look at the unforgettable Lady Day. Random House, Viking. 354p. bibliog. index. c2005.0-37570580-5. $14.95. SA

In the 1970s, a young woman named Linda Kuehl interviewed over 100 people who knew Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959), born Eleanora Fagan and later nicknamed Lady Day (see "Jazz royalty" regarding similar nicknames), was an American jazz singer, a seminal influence on jazz and pop singers, and generally regarded as one of the  for the purpose of writing a book. After collecting over 150 taped interviews, Kuehl threw herself from a hotel window and died. Blackburn gained access to the tapes, now owned by a private collector, and decided to use them to write a book without, as she says, trying "to establish order in this chaos." Instead she uses the actual words of people who knew Holiday. The result is a fascinating look into the life of a woman raped at 11 and brought to live in her mother's brothel at 14. Her young life was one of prostitution prostitution, act of granting sexual access for payment. Although most commonly conducted by females for males, it may be performed by females or males for either females or males.  and drugs and when she grew older, it didn't get much better. Her main love in life was her music, and in spite of in opposition to all efforts of; in defiance or contempt of; notwithstanding.

See also: Spite
 being used and mistreated she was able to set a standard few have ever approached.

Much of the language is raw as it describes a world where pimps, drugs, crime and despair are common. Together, the interviews explain where Holiday's music came from. The author spends little time describing the music, though it is apparent through the interviews that music was the most important thing in Holiday's life. Rather like an Impressionist painter, Blackburn portrays the singer by using individual dots of detail from the interviews, and it is up to the reader to assemble them to create an image. This portrait is made of mostly depressing colors, but Billie's strength and commitment to her music shine through. Nola Theiss, Sanibel, FL

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

A--Recommended for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians This is a list of people who have practised as a librarian and are well-known, either for their contributions to the library profession or primarily in some other field.  and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will extend KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries.
COPYRIGHT 2006 Kliatt
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2006, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Author:Theiss, Nola
Publication:Kliatt
Article Type:Book review
Date:Sep 1, 2006
Words:323
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