Princess Noire; The Tumultuous Reign of Nina Simone
New York: Pantheon Books, 2010. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. vi, 449, [7] pages. Frontis illustration. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Inscribed by Nadine on title page. Nadine Cohodas is the author of several books, most recently Queen: The Life and Music of Dinah Washington, which received an award for Excellence in Research in Recorded Jazz Music from the Association for Recorded Sound Collections. This is a complete account of the triumphs and difficulties of Nina Simone. Her distinctive voice and music occupy a singular place in the canon of American song. Tapping into newly unearthed material--including stories of family and career--Nadine Cohodas gives us a luminous portrait of the singer who was born Eunice Waymon. We see her as a talented child who is trained in classical piano through the auspices of a white woman. We witness her disappointment when she is rejected by the Curtis Institute of Music--a dream deferred that would forever shape her self-image as well as her music. Yet by 1959--now calling herself Nina Simone--she was on her way. As we watch Simone's exciting rise to stardom, Cohodas weaves in the central factors of her life and career: her relationship with her audiences; her involvement in the civil rights movement; her marriages; the alienation from the United States that drove her to live abroad. Alongside these threads runs a darker one, her lifelong struggle to overcome a deep sense of personal injustice, which persisted even as she won international renown. "Princess Noire" is a fascinating story, thoroughly documented with intimate photos--a treatment that captures the passions of Nina's life. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: Eunice Waymon, Nina Simone, Carnegie Hall, Civil Rights, Lorraine Hansberry, Al Schackman, Segregation, Racism, Discrimination, African-Americans, Singers, Entertainers, Andy Stroud, John Waymon
ISBN: 9780375424014
[Book #75164]
Price: $45.00