Ira Gershwin: A Life in Words by Michael Owen
Format: Hardcover/ Paperback
400 pgs
Release date: November 26, 2024
Publisher: Liveright
*may be available as an e-book or audiobook on library digital platforms
"I am curious about how the lyrics in Porgy and Bess came to be and his collaboration with George Gershwin…" Tanisha
How to present this to library customers: How to position this book: Sometimes you have to use the familiar to get people interested in the unfamiliar. Although Ira Gershwin was very instrumental in many American works, he is often linked to his famous brother, George Gershwin. I would present this books with biographies of George Gershwin, the famous opera Porgy and Bess along with other famous jazz pieces by George Gershwin and his contemporaries.
Publisher Description
The Pulitzer Prize–winning American lyricist Ira Gershwin (1896–1983) has been hailed as one of the masters of the Great American Songbook―songs written largely for Broadway and Hollywood from the 1920s to the 1950s. Now, in the first full-length biography devoted to his life, Ira Gershwin steps out at last from the long shadow cast by his younger and more famous brother George.
It’s a life with a sharp dividing line; we witness Ira’s transformation by George’s death at thirty-eight. From carefree dreamer and successful lyricist, he becomes guardian of his brother’s legacy and manager of complex family dynamics, even while continuing to practice his craft with composers like Harold Arlen and Jerome Kern.
[amazon.com]
Audience Key:
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