Bitter Crop

The unfinished life of Billie Holiday haunts us. In Bitter Crop, Paul Alexander tells her story in a way that could put her soul and our questions to rest -- GLORIA STEINEM
In its layered exploration of Holiday's life and death, Bitter Crop shows just what lay behind that tragic, transcendent gift * * Sunday Times * *
Magnificent . . . Alexander recreates these seminal moments with sentimental drama * * Irish Times * *
Alexander pieces together some wonderful accounts of the singer by her close friends, to depict Holiday as resourceful and resilient * * Wall Street Journal * *
Chronicling Holiday's career, Alexander covers in meticulous detail her early successes; collaborations . . . and the music itself, including 1958's Lady in Satin, her penultimate album and a "masterpiece of longing and sorrow" made singular by her beautifully "damaged, tortured voice". The result is an excellent biography befitting of its inimitable subject * * Publishers Weekly * *
Ambitious. . . . In tracing Holiday's longtime drug and alcohol use, which damaged her health and led to her spending nearly a year in prison for narcotics possession, Alexander also delves into the unwarranted sensationalism with which the press often covered these matters at the time * * New Yorker * *
A revealing, up-close look at a musical genius who became an American icon -- DON WINSLOW
Alexander's evocative prose seamlessly complements the painstaking research that he conducted . . . he has written a tale as unique as Holiday's voice and, more importantly, given voice to the life of an American original * * Kirkus (starred review) * *
The first major Holiday biography in more than two decades, Bitter Crop benefits from a tight focus and a cinematic structure. Alexander sets vivid scenes as he moves through the closing months of a life that was difficult from the start, weaving in detailed flashbacks to provide context for where Holiday found herself during her final act. * * Boston Globe * *
A quietly gripping read * * Harper's Magazine * *