KXCI 91.3FM Community Radio – KXCI Valentine's Love Auction
Auction Ends: Feb 4, 2010 06:00 PM EST

Books

Brass Diva: The Life and Legends of Ethel Merman (3 of 3)

Item Number
183
Estimated Value
19 USD
Sold
6 USD to uanac
Number of Bids
1  -  Bid History

Item Description

Brass Diva: The Life and Legends of Ethel Merman
Author: Caryl Flinn
Paperback: 556 pages
Publisher: University of California Press; November 30, 2007
ISBN-10: 0520229428
ISBN-13: 978-0520229426
http://carylflinn.com/


Broadway star Ethel Merman's voice was a mesmerizing force and her vitality was legendary, yet the popular perception of La Merm as the irrepressible wonder falls far short of all that she was and all that she meant to Americans over so many decades. This marvelously detailed biography is the first to tell the full story of how the stenographer from Queens, New York, became the queen of the Broadway musical in its golden age. Mining official and unofficial sources, including interviews with Merman's family and her personal scrapbooks, Caryl Flinn unearths new details of Merman's life and finds that behind the high-octane personality was a remarkably pragmatic woman who never lost sight of her roots.

Brass Diva takes us from Merman's working-class beginnings through the extraordinary career that was launched in 1930 when, playing a secondary role in a Gershwin Brothers' show, she became an overnight sensation singing "I Got Rhythm." From there, we follow Merman's hits on Broadway, her uneven successes in Hollywood, and her afterlife as a beloved camp icon. This definitive work on the phenomenon that was Ethel Merman is also the first to thoroughly explore her robust influence on American popular culture.

Caryl Flinn, Ph.D.
Professor of Women's Studies and Media Arts
Phone: 520-626-5908
Email: cflinn@email.arizona.edu

Caryl Flinn, Ph.D.
Women's Studies, Room 212A
925 N. Tyndall, Building #438
The University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721

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