Dream Lucky: When FDR was in the White House, Count Basie was on the…

by Roxane Orgill

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Showing 1-5 of 26 (next | show all)

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

A snapshot of 1930s America which makes no pretense of being a deep sociological study. It's a fun book to dip in and out of, particularly if you've heard your parents and grandparents reminisce about that era.

Linkmeister | Feb 10, 2010 |

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

This book is a good quick read. It's basically a set of short stories about the 1930's, a few of which are connected to others. The topics covered are mostly jazz, politics, and sports. This isn't like a history book, but more like a book on pop culture of the time and the things that brought poeple together, like the radio.

BubbaCoop | Nov 30, 2009 |

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Couldn't really figure out the point of this book beyond providing some snapshots of the 1930s. It was OK, but more for skimming than really reading and enjoying. (

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soubrette | Oct 2, 2009 |

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

I reviewed this already, then removed the book. so I'm trying to see if I saved my review somewhere. I know I liked it.

rudeb7 | Jul 15, 2009 |

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

A beautifully written perspective of the mid to late 1930's. However, the book simply centers on a few key personalities of the period rather then delving further into the way the era was for everyone and how it impacted later years in the U.S. While it is easy to read, with a solid story line I would have liked a broader perspective and discussion of the era. (

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cutiger80 | Jul 8, 2009 |

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Franklin Delano Roosevelt

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Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0060897503, Hardcover)

The time: 1936-1938. The mood: Hopeful. It wasn't wartime, not yet. The music: The incomparable Count Basie and Benny Goodman, among others. The setting: Living rooms across America and, most of all, New York City.

Dream Lucky covers politics, race, religion, arts, and sports, but the central focus is the period's soundtrack—specifically big band jazz—and the big-hearted piano player William "Count" Basie. His ascent is the narrative thread of the book—how he made it and what made his music different from the rest. But many other stories weave in and out: Amelia Earhart pursues her dream of flying "around the world at its waistline." Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., stages a boycott on 125th Street. And Mae West shocks radio listeners as a naked Eve tempting the snake.

Critic Nat Hentoff praises the "precise originality" with which Roxane Orgill writes about music. In Dream Lucky, she magically lets readers hear the past.

(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:01:04 -0500)

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