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Loading... Dream Lucky: When FDR was in the White House, Count Basie was on the…by Roxane Orgill
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. 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 |  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. (  ) soubrette | Oct 2, 2009 | 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 | 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. (  ) cutiger80 | Jul 8, 2009 | I love the time period this book encompasses, the mid to late 1930's. Lots of good music, writing, events that hadn't been squashed by the coming of World War II. There is no doubt that Orgill did her research. Wow! She knows it all and does a good job of painting a vivid picture of what the streets of America were like back then. But that's all this book is, a vivid picture of life back then. No real compelling narrative. Just plenty of creative tidbits to highlight some of the characters like Count Basie, FDR and Joe Louis. I have to say that the few pages on Lewis are the highlights of this short and colorful book. ( ) trav | Oct 14, 2008 |  no reviews | add a review
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| Book description |
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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 Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:16 -0400)
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Dream Lucky: When FDR was in the White House, Count Basie was on the radio, and everyone wore a hat. by Roxane Orgill was made available through LibraryThing Early Reviewers. Sign up to possibly get pre-publication copies of books.
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