Irving Berlin

In this book, Irving Berlin comes to life as a father, a husband and a friend - as well as the most enduring and beloved songwriter of this century. We see his good times and his bad, his public life and his private one. Mary Ellin Barrett, Berlin's oldest daughter and the author of three previous books, puts her father's work into perspective and reveals the truth behind certain darker and more mysterious elements of the Irving Berlin no other biographer has understood. The bulk of the memoir concentrates on the half-century of triumphs that began with Alexander's Ragtime Band and included White Christmas, God Bless America, and There's No Business Like Show Business. Touching, wise, gracefully written. - The New York Times