Product Description

In A POCKET FULL OF DREAMS, the first volume of THE definitive Crosby biography, award-winning music critic Gary Giddins chronicles the ascension of Bing's career. From his early days in college minstrel shows and vaudeville, to his first hit recordings, from his 11-year triumph as star of America's most popular radio show, to his first success in Hollywood teaming up with Bob Hope, Giddins provides the most detailed study yet of the rise of an American star.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #396740 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 768 pages

Review
* "Gary Giddins may be the best thing to happen to Bing Crosby since Bob Hope.Crosby couldn't have hoped for a finer biographer: elegant writer, informed historian, thorough scholar and one of America's most eminent jazz critics." - WALL STREET JOURNAL *Gary Giddins has performed a great service in tracking Crosby's life and career so scrupulously.A masterly performance." - NY TIMES BOOK REVIEW

About the Author
Long time music critic of Village Voice Gary Giddins is an award-winning critic and author. His previous biographies have included works on Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker. He lives in New York.

Customer Reviews

An absorbing look at one of the 20th. century's icons.
Gary Giddins is a prize winning author who has now written what must be the definitive book about the first half of Bing Crosby's life. The very strong opening introduction sets the scene brilliantly and a page of statistics contains almost breathtaking figures which should capture the interest of any casual reader. Detailed reviews of the family history before Crosby was born follow and perhaps there was almost too much detail there as I found myself eager to read about Bing himself. As he tells the story of Crosby's early life and then his show-business career, the author's musical and jazz knowledge comes to the fore as he analyses in depth many of Crosby's recordings. Every reader will learn much from the scholarly discourses on Bing's choice (and at times, not so choice) records. Every Crosby film up to 1940 is reviewed in amazing depth with much new information coming forward from the incredible number of peoople consulted by the author over the years. The section headed 'Notes and Sources' is remarkable in itself. Everything of significance in Bing Crosby's life up to 1940 is covered thoroughly and perhaps for some casual readers there may be too much detail. For the Crosby fans however, this book will be an absolute treasure and leave them hungry for volume two. There are some interesting photos but the decision to use low quality video capture frames for some of the early film shorts may be questionable. The book includes a discography up to 1940 and a complete filmography. This must be the most accurate in-depth assessment of Bing Crosby ever. Giddins started out believing the negative publicity which came out after Crosby's death but he has now turned almost full circle. He discusses some of the controversial aspects of Crosby the man in a balanced and logical manner. But it is Crosby the entertainer who has cast a spell over Giddins and he articulates his well thought-out views magnificently. An important book about the show-business scene of the last century. Heartily recommended.

Well researched but bone dry
Scholarly? Unquestionably!
Well researched? Exhaustingly so!
Detailed? In the extreme!
Factual? Undoubtedly
Informative? Certainly!
(Too) Detailed? Affirmative!
(Too) lengthy? You bet!
Anecdotal? Mwah
Readable? Mwah

Hats off to Giddins for putting Bing Crosby in the right perspective in this well researched, detailed and scholarly account of Bing's early years. That's on the up side. On the down side, Giddins' book is not a
thrilling read. It completely lacks the suspense or surprise that makes a good biography (or any book in general) a page turner (even though the facts are generally known): will the protagonist make it, will he succeed, will he win her, will the next engagement put him on the way to fame and fortune, will his next record be a hit? But no, Giddins' just states the facts. His style is very formal (compare this with Nick Tosches' Dean Martin biography!) and completely devoid of humour. So I find the book a mixed blessing and, the facts notwithstanding, I doubt I will buy the sequel when it comes