As Fats Waller would say, the joint is jumpin’! I’ll start with David Margolick’s two-page review of Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong
in Sunday’s New York Times Book Review, which is not yet available on line but which I’ve just seen on paper. The money quote is in the lead:
One of the hardest parts of writing a biography is finding a fit subject, but sometimes they’re in plain sight. Despite his incalculable contributions to American culture, there has never been a fully adequate narrative biography of Louis Armstrong. Terry Teachout now fills that void with “Pops.”
In other news:
• Amazon has chosen Pops as one of its six “Best of the Month” picks for December. To read Dave Callanan’s review–and see the other five books–go here.
• National Review has posted an excellent podcast about Pops. You can download it here.
• The second installment of Marc Myers’ five-part interview with me can be read by going here.
Be sure to listen to me on NPR’s Talk of the Nation tomorrow!