Bitter Crop — PAUL ALEXANDER

Bitter Crop:The Heartache and Triumph of Billie Holiday’s Last Year

will be published on February 13, 2024 by Alfred A. Knopf

STARRED KIRKUS REVIEW!

BITTER CROP: The Heartache and Triumph Of Billie Holiday's Last Year
Author: Paul Alexander

A talented biographer paints a memorable portrait of an American master.

Alexander, the author of biographies of J.D. Salinger, Sylvia Plath, and John McCain, revisits the story of the brilliant jazz singer Billie Holiday (1915-1959), concentrating on the final year of her life, which almost perfectly encapsulated the spirit of her turbulent success, ambition, and significant struggles with romantic relationships, alcohol, and drugs. Readers familiar with jazz will instantly recognize the title’s reference to Holiday’s most recognizable song, “Strange Fruit,” the poignant anti-lynching anthem that met with mixed reviews from white audiences and warnings from the federal government against its performance. Alexander’s evocative prose seamlessly complements the painstaking research that he conducted via interviews with contemporaries of Holiday, his thorough archival mining, and his use of never-before-seen material from private collections to distinguish the fact, fiction, and embellishment about Holiday’s life that has been disseminated by music critics, early biographers, and Holiday herself. Though Alexander demonstrates an impressive knowledge of jazz, this book is not exclusively for music aficionados. He tells Holiday’s story while delivering a cogent social history of America in the first half of the 20th century. The author incorporates published reviews of Holiday’s performances, interviews she gave, and wonderfully composed vignettes of TV, radio, and recording performances, particularly the session that produced what Holiday considered her finest album and life metaphor, Lady in Satin (1958). That album “would come to represent a final capstone in a life that was defined by personal heartbreak eclipsed by a level of artistic achievement rarely witnessed in the world of popular music.” Alexander demonstrates why—despite the disappointments, broken dreams and relationships, and personal failings—Holiday believed her life to be a triumph. He has written a tale as unique as Holiday’s voice and, more importantly, given voice to the life of an American original.

An extraordinarily fascinating book.

Advance praise for

Bitter Crop: The Heartache and Triumph of Billie Holiday’s Last year

“Making it as real as if you had been there, Paul Alexander has done an incomparable job bringing to life both elements of his title. He shows us the malice and ignorance of Billie’s accusers and eventual killers, the love and support of friends, and her own courage and purity of heart. A must read for all lovers of the immortal Lady Day.”

—Dan Morgenstern, Director Emeritus, Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University

“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, award-winning author and political activist

“Perhaps only in this century can we fully change the narrative of Billie Holiday. Billie was a trespasser of taboos, a woman of tenderness and terror, whose story is repeated again and again by working-class women of color. This is a heartfelt ballad of a book written as only one artist could view another, with insight and sincere compassion.”

—Sandra Cisneros, best-selling author of Woman Without Shame

"Paul Alexander brought me right into the room with Billie Holiday. Despite all of her challenges, she remained determined to do what she absolutely had to do — sing! The book is filled with the irony of life — humor, sadness, and everything in between. A truly deep and inspiring work!"

—Catherine Russell, Grammy Award-winning jazz artist

“Sensitive, searing, and unforgettable as Lady Day herself, Bitter Crop is an exquisite testament that offers breathtaking insight into Holiday’s final year. Alexander’s tour de force transcends the mythology of Holiday’s wounds and bruises to recognize her pure voice and heart, reminding us that Billie Holiday is with us yet.”

––Rachel Eliza Griffiths, author of Promise

“A nonfiction portrait of Billie Holiday that reads like a novel, Bitter Crop takes you into the rooms where she lived and the venues where she performed to give you a revealing, up-close look at a musical genius who became an American icon. A brilliant achievement!”