More people watched his nationally syndicated television show between 1953 and 1955 than followed I Love Lucy. Even a decade after his death; the attendance records he set at Madison Square Garden; the Hollywood Bowl; and Radio City Music Hall still stand. Arguably the most popular entertainer of the twentieth century; this very public figure nonetheless kept more than a few secrets. Darden Asbury Pyron; author of the acclaimed and bestselling Southern Daughter: The Life of Margaret Mitchell; leads us through the life of Americas foremost showman with his fresh; provocative; and definitive portrait of Liberace; an American boy.Liberaces career follows the trajectory of the classic American dream. Born in the Midwest to Polish-Italian immigrant parents; he was a child prodigy who; by the age of twenty; had performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Abandoning the concert stage for the lucrative and glittery world of nightclubs; celebrities; and television; Liberace became Americas most popular entertainer. While wildly successful and good natured outwardly; Liberace; Pyron reveals; was a complicated man whose political; social; and religious conservativism existed side-by-side with a lifetime of secretive homosexuality. Even so; his swishy persona belied an inner life of ferocious aggression and ambition. Pyron relates this private man to his public persona and places this remarkable life in the rapidly changing cultural landscape of twentieth-century America.Pyron presents Liberaces life as a metaphor; for both good and ill; of American culture; with its shopping malls and insatiable hunger for celebrity. In this fascinating biography; Pyron complicates and celebrates our image of the man for whom the streets were paved with gold lameacute;."An entertaining and rewarding biography of the pianist and entertainer whose fans adoration was equaled only by his critics loathing. . . . [Pyron] persuasively argues that Liberace; thoroughly and rigorously trained; was a genuine musician as well as a brilliant showman. . . . [A]n immensely entertaining story that should be fascinating and pleasurable to anyone with an interest in American popular culture."mdash;Kirkus Reviews"This is a wonderful book; what biography ought to be and so seldom is."mdash;Kathryn Hughes; Daily Telegraph"[A]bsorbing and insightful. . . . Pyrons interests are far-ranging and illuminating-from the influence of a Roman Catholic sensibility on Liberace and gay culture to the aesthetics of television and the social importance of self-improvement books in the 1950s. Finally; he achieves what many readers might consider impossible: a persuasive case for Liberaces life and times as the embodiment of an important cultural moment."mdash;Publishers Weekly"Liberace; coming on top of his amazing life of Margaret Mitchell; Southern Daughter; puts Darden Pyron in the very first rank of American biographers. His books are as exciting as the lives of his subjects."mdash;Tom Wolfe"Fascinating; thoughtful; exhaustive; and well-written; this book will serve as the standard biography of a complex icon of American popular culture."mdash;Library Journal
#1450969 in eBooks 2013-05-07 2013-05-07File Name: B00CJNAS7G
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. RE: Django and the Hot Club live again!By J. PepoonHeres Django and the Hot Club doing their thing way back in the 30s.....The photo is a bit later on the scene; but the arrangements are well done and sound to be authentically constructed. I am going to keep looking for other folios because I know their are many versions to learn and that is what makes music exciting for me. I will never play like Django; but I can always enjoy his legacy.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Only the necessary and the sufficient were written.By Antonio C A LoboVery clean writting! The notes which appear are just those required to play the songs/solos in a plain and straightforward way.If you are a real fan of the man you wont have any problem to perform the music right as it is (even the inflections they typically present). There are no bios or facts in this book; but some among the most important tunes Django played in his life are therein found.Id recommmen you; if you are (like me!) a huge fan of this remarkable artist.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Incomplete and InaccurateBy Timothy M. SweeneyAlthough Ive yet to find a Django transcription that seemed completely correct; several of these are just flat-out wrong. Many of the licks are completely omitted and the chord fingerings are not the way gypsy jazz players finger these chords. Not bad as a basic reference but youll need to cross reference virtually all of these transcriptions with another source to get the songs right.