Rating: 
Summary: A Great Biography!
Review: If you like biographies,jazz and the nostalgia of the 20's and 30's..buy this book right now!!It tells the story of a great entertainer and captures him and the life around him in great style.The book flows along and makes you want to read the second part of Bings life(not published yet).Trust me ,you will not read a better biography than this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Impressive, comprehensive, valuable record.
Review: Incredibly, there appear to be no comparable books in print about the man Giddins defensibly characterizes as America's Everyman and the King of Popular Culture during the first half of the 20th century. Consequently, this 728-page book certainly amounts to an impressive achievement and fills a gaping hole. But in attempting to cover all bases--biographical, cultural, musicological--the book risks pleasing no one in particular and being consigned to the shelf of pop musical reference works.Frankly, I had expected Giddins, a familiar face after the recent PBS series on jazz, to focus more specifically on musical analysis, following the exemplary study by Will Friedwald ("The Song Is You") of Frank Sinatra's artistry. But since he went a more comprehensive, autobiographical route, I would have expected him to take on a responsibility as important as scholarly objectivity, viz. reveal the "real" Bing Crosby to the reader. Giddins acknowledges the paradoxes of the man as well as the complexity and inscrutability. Then he proceeds to give his subject the Joe Friday treatment, presenting the record of the career in a logical, chronological, highly readable manner. But we rarely get inside the mind of the subject or experience the sensibility that might enable it to come alive for the generations born after Bing. Some readers might like it this way, but others will argue that a biographer's task is to construct a thesis and develop it. The great biographers seem to be part historian, part critic, part psychologist, part novelist, poet, and painter. In any case, were it not for this book I would not have returned to the Crosby recordings before 1940. Indeed, they are frequently eye-opening and captivating. The mellow, relaxed crooning sound that I had dismissed as negligible when I heard it in the fifties and later, has body, expressiveness, drama, and charm, practically making the author's case all by itself. The discography, filmography, and bibliography are exhaustive, though I find it somewhat disappointing that the author did not attempt to identify recorded collections of Crosby music that are still in print.
Rating:
Summary: Remembrance of Things Bing
Review: It is amusing to consider the reputation, a trashed reputation at that because of Bing's troubled son Gary's inability to accept the fallibility of his father, and of the post-60's generation who neglected to go beyond their cultural prejudices. Though hardly without flaws, Bing, as Gary Giddings has so admirably depicted for his readers, emerges a far more decent human being, both professionally and as a husband and father, than those many entertainers who became icons to the Elvis, Beetles, Sinatra generations. Hardly the ogre father who brutalized his children, Bing's humanity is affirmed by family members (other than Bing's troubled son, Gary, of course), by his friends, and by those countless musicians (Louie, Bix, Rosemary, etc.) who marveled at his musical inventiveness. If one wished to slip into the gutter of character assasination, one can obsess more profitably on the pathology so evident in the lives of countless pop giants. Bing might have been too Republican or too guilt-ridden or even too conventional for those who find him wanting as a man, but a selfish or cruel man he was not. Giddins has repositioned Bing in the history of pop music, and rightfully so, placing Bing in the forefront of 20th century pioneers. The recent PBS, Ken Burns Jazz History never tells the real truth about Jazz singers because Burns, a child of the 60's, never understands what Louis Armstrong and countless other black and white musicians understood: Bing was a revolutionary in the sense that he innovated as significantly as anyone in the past century. Bing will flower for those who read this fine book.
Rating:
Summary: A walk down memory lane
Review: Like most people, this reviewer remembers Bing Crosby for his "road" movies with Bob Hope, a few other flicks, and the song "White Christmas. I also remember Bing riding the Aqueduct Special ... better from Manhattan to Queens after he was a legend. However, apparently, Gary Giddins states that Bing was a very popular jazz singer during the 1920s and 1930s when non-Blacks were not just a rarity, but nonexistent in the music. This biography is very interesting as it provides insight into Bing before he becomes a Hollywood icon. This book is for more than just Hollywood buffs, as Jazz fans will enjoy Bing's influence on the entertainment industry with emphasis on his jazz days. This is a well-written biography that will add to a legendary American hero. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: The First Part.
Review: Out of the Bing bio's I have read, which is quite a few, I would
have to have to say that Gary Giddins book "A Pocketful of Dreams - The Early Years 1903-1940" was the best I have read so far. The book is so full of information, very detailed, and you could tell it had a lot of research gone into it. The book contains at the start a great amount of detail on his family also, before him, etc. The confusion of the date of Crosby's birth was an interesting part of the book, and has been explained well. Giddins clearly loves the topic in subject, and he has written this brilliantly. He discusses more than just his personal life, he talks about the recordings, the movies, etc. Fully detailing everything. Its a long book, and worthwile for any Crosby fan to read. It comes with a complete discography and filmography of Crosby up to 1940, where the book ends. I also await the second volume, which I am looking forward to, and I am sure it will be just as good, or atleast close to the first part.
Rating:
Summary: The First Part.
Review: Out of the Bing bio's I have read, which is quite a few, I would
have to have to say that Gary Giddins book "A Pocketful of Dreams - The Early Years 1903-1940" was the best I have read so far. The book is so full of information, very detailed, and you could tell it had a lot of research gone into it. The book contains at the start a great amount of detail on his family also, before him, etc. The confusion of the date of Crosby's birth was an interesting part of the book, and has been explained well. Giddins clearly loves the topic in subject, and he has written this brilliantly. He discusses more than just his personal life, he talks about the recordings, the movies, etc. Fully detailing everything. Its a long book, and worthwile for any Crosby fan to read. It comes with a complete discography and filmography of Crosby up to 1940, where the book ends. I also await the second volume, which I am looking forward to, and I am sure it will be just as good, or atleast close to the first part.
Rating:
Summary: Der Bingle is back!
Review: Poor Bing. What do people really remember him for these days? I mean, really? Sure, there's the standard "White Christmas"..."The Bells of St. Marys"...and maybe those dopey orange juice commercials he did before he talked to the angels. Yep, Bing's a forgotten man these days. And that's why Giddins book is such an authoritative revelation! Chronicling his life up until the early WWII years, it tells a very readable tale of how Bing came to dominate radio, film and recordings for well over twenty years. You can see why Sinatra gets all the attention these days. While both men put out an impressive body of work, Sinatra tended to take more chances. Bing generally stuck to more "safe" movie roles over his career which haven't travelled well and didn't challenge himself in more dramatic roles like "The Country Girl" like he could have. He also let his managers make many of his song choices and gave up his earlier 30's jazz stylings for a more mainstream sound. But all and all, this is an illuminating look at all the man accomplished and with Giddins' access to family papers, it's head and shoulders above any other book done to date. Can't wait for part two to see how Giddins deals with his later career. A must! Also, if you have the cash, pick up the Bing box "The Legendary Years" as a companion piece which has just about every track you could ever want.
Rating: 
Summary: massively disappointing
Review: Robert Gottlieb unaccountably praised this book in the Sunday NY Times Book Review. As an editor himself, he should be ashamed. The book is poorly written and unedited. Save your money.
Rating: 
Summary: When is..............
Review: the sequel to this wonderful biography coming out??? Anyone know?
Rating:
Summary: When is..............
Review: the sequel to this wonderful biography coming out??? Anyone know?
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