Library Journal
Born Edith Gassion and christened Piaf ("sparrow") by her first employer, Piaf became one of the most famous French cabaret singers of the 20th century, as well as an actor on stage and screen. Piaf wrote her autobiography in 1958; this translation updates the 1965 version by Masoin de Virton and Peter Trewartha. Though Piaf touches on many aspects of her active and colorful life, her book is somewhat thin on the type of detail found in the kiss-and-tell autobiographies fashionable today. In addition, Piaf skips over several large chunks of time as she recounts her life and career. Libraries that own the 1965 edition will probably not feel the need to replace it with this one because the two are so similar. Since Piaf's appeal is somewhat specialized, this book is recommended for larger public libraries. Academic libraries with significant performing arts collections might also consider.-James E. Perone, Mount Union Coll., Alliance, OH Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
The Wheel of Fortune: The Official Autobiography
by Edith Piaf
Edith Piaf's life is almost as famous as her work. From her birth (which she liked to tell people was in the Parisian streets, her mother shielded by two gendarmes) to her death (when her husband allegedly drove her corpse from the Cannes hospital where she died to her flat, lest her fans think that she had abandoned Paris) her life story was a rags-to-riches tale
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Edith Piaf's life is almost as famous as her work. From her birth (which she liked to tell people was in the Parisian streets, her mother shielded by two gendarmes) to her death (when her husband allegedly drove her corpse from the Cannes hospital where she died to her flat, lest her fans think that she had abandoned Paris) her life story was a rags-to-riches tale like no other. A street singer discovered by the nightclub owner who gave her the stage name Piaf (Sparrow), she rose to become a national heroine. Friends with Charlie Chaplin, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Jean Cocteau, Maurice Chevalier, and Marlene Dietrich, she was also at various times chief suspect for the murder of her mentor, an alcoholic and a drug addict. But she always seemed to embody, and still does, something of the spirit of Paris. Following her death in 1963, 40,000 people descended on Pere Lachaise Cemetery for her funeral, and, 40 years on, millions remain fans of her music.
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Product Details
- ISBN-13:
- 9780720612288
- Publisher:
- Owen, Peter Limited
- Publication date:
- 02/09/2005
- Pages:
- 192
- Sales rank:
- 726,374
- Product dimensions:
- 5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.40(d)
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