Stormy Weather : the Life of Lena Horne / by James Gavin

New York : Atria Books, 2009. 1st Edition in this form. Hardcover. The first serious biography of entertainment legend Lena Horne, the star who became one of the first African-American icons. Gavin has gotten closer than any other writer to the celebrity, who has lived in reclusion since 1998. Incorporating insights from the likes of Ruby Dee, Tony Bennett, Diahann Carroll, Arthur Laurents, and several of Horne’s fellow chorines from Harlem’s Cotton Club, Stormy Weather offers a fascinating portrait of a complex, even tragic Horne--a stunning talent whose frustrations with racism, and with a tumultuous, rootless childhood, left wounds too deep to heal. The woman who emerged was as angry as she was luminous. From the Cotton Club’s glory days and the backlots of Hollywood’s biggest studios to the glitzy but bigoted hotels of Las Vegas’s heyday, this behind-the-scenes look at an American icon is as much a story of the limits of the American dream as it is a groundbreaking biography. An exceptional copy; fine in an equally fine dw, now mylar-sleeved. Particularly and surprisingly well-preserved; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp-cornered. Literally as new.; 598 pages; Description: 598 p., 16 p. of plates : ill. ; 25 cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. [544]-560) , discography (p. [561]-564) , filmography (p. [565]) , and index. Subjects: Horne, Lena --African American women singers --Biography