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Rating: 
Summary: what a mess
Review: Peyser doesn't write very well and she doesn't understand her subject. That said, the fact is that because she had her agenda of uncovering hitherto unknown material (if for the wrong reasons), she has done just that. There are nuggets here, new information, new ideas about the life and the music. But they are so horribly mixed in with unfounded gossip and rumor -- did I mention the terrible writing? -- that only a true Gershwin aficionado will recognize what there is of value in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Garbage In - Garbage Out
Review: This book proves the old computing adage! It's too bad the author doesn't have any solid research to back up the wild claims she makes about Gershwin's life. Too bad there isn't less than one star on amazon.com ratings, this book deserves far less.
Rating:
Summary: Reads like a bad supermarket tabloid.
Review: This book seems like an overt attempt at character assassination. If the author wants us to believe most of the "new material" that is presented in this book it's going to take more documentation than third or fourth hand rumor and gossip. Surely there is a lot more complexity and depth to George Gershwin's character than we have had in previous biographies, but this trashy book doesn't convey that. For example, we are now to believe that Gershwin was a sadist because the author heard that from someone, who heard it from someone, who had it second hand from someone who heard it from George's psychologist? Puh-leeeze! In my opinion, the author presents a lot of negative points about Gershwin without citing credible sources to back up the claims. I felt I was reading a diatribe from someone with a personal axe to grind, rather than a scholarly or well researched biography. Let's hope a new generation of biographers don't cite this work as their source material for future biographies of Gershwin. It's trash. There are other more informative biographies of Gershwin out there...go for something else.
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