{"product_id":"bitter-crop-the-heartache-and-triumph-of-billie-holidays-last-year-9780593312520","title":"Bitter Crop: The Heartache and Triumph of Billie Holiday's Last Year","description":"\u003cb\u003eA revelatory look at the tumultuous life of a jazz legend and American cultural icon \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A book written as only one artist could view another, with insight and sincere compassion.\" --Sandra Cisneros, best-selling author of \u003ci\u003eWoman Without Shame\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn the first biography of Billie Holiday in more than two decades, Paul Alexander--author of heralded lives of Sylvia Plath and J. D. Salinger--gives us an unconventional portrait of arguably America's most eminent jazz singer. He shrewdly focuses on the last year of her life--with relevant flashbacks to provide context--to evoke and examine the persistent magnificence of Holiday's artistry when it was supposed to have declined, in the wake of her drug abuse, relationships with violent men, and run-ins with the law. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDuring her lifetime and after her death, Billie Holiday was often depicted as a down-on-her-luck junkie severely lacking in self-esteem. Relying on interviews with people who knew her, and new material unearthed in private collections and institutional archives, \u003ci\u003eBitter Crop\u003c\/i\u003e--a reference to the last two words of \u003ci\u003eStrange Fruit\u003c\/i\u003e, her moving song about lynching--limns Holiday as a powerful, ambitious woman who overcame her flaws to triumph as a vital figure of American popular music.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Vintage\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/11\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780593312520\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 368\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.70lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.19w x 0.75d","brand":"Paul Alexander","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45017791430837,"sku":"9780593312520","price":16.15,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_270fd95d-9856-4eef-aab5-9278bb2ae59f.jpg?v=1736832884","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/bitter-crop-the-heartache-and-triumph-of-billie-holidays-last-year-9780593312520","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}