jjares reviewed Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller: The Lives and Careers of America?s Most Famous Big Band Leaders on + 3299 more book reviews
This book sets the right tone when it says in the opening chapter, that the Swing Era was a "magical period in America between the hedonism of the Roaring 1920s and the rebelliousness of the 1950s." The rest of the book was the story of two of the most important men of the Swing Era -- Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller.
Here are the two things I'd like to share with you. Benny Goodman was a child prodigy. He started life as a very poor Jewish boy who quit school because he needed to earn money for the family. He was the first of the mainstream band leaders who hired blacks.
Glenn Miller, during World War II, joined the military and was sent to play for the troops. On December 15, 1944, the plane he was in disappeared on the way to Paris. The airplane was never found and is thought to have dropped into the English Channel. Miller was 40 years of age.
My only criticism of this work is the way it jumped from one man's story to the next. I understand that the men were linked; both men were active at the same time and in the same milieu. However, the way the story bounced was disconcerting and did not make for a clear story for either man.
Here are the two things I'd like to share with you. Benny Goodman was a child prodigy. He started life as a very poor Jewish boy who quit school because he needed to earn money for the family. He was the first of the mainstream band leaders who hired blacks.
Glenn Miller, during World War II, joined the military and was sent to play for the troops. On December 15, 1944, the plane he was in disappeared on the way to Paris. The airplane was never found and is thought to have dropped into the English Channel. Miller was 40 years of age.
My only criticism of this work is the way it jumped from one man's story to the next. I understand that the men were linked; both men were active at the same time and in the same milieu. However, the way the story bounced was disconcerting and did not make for a clear story for either man.
