Ira Gershwin - A Life in Words

The Pulitzer Prize-winning American lyricist Ira Gershwin (1896-1983) has been hailed as one of the masters of the Great American Songbook-songs written largely for Broadway and Hollywood from the 1920s to the 1950s. Now, in the first full-length biography devoted to his life, Ira Gershwin steps out at last from the long shadow cast by his younger and more famous brother George.
It's a life with a sharp dividing line; we witness Ira's transformation by George's death at thirty-eight. From carefree dreamer and successful lyricist, he becomes guardian of his brother's legacy and manager of complex family dynamics, even while continuing to practise his craft with composers like Harold Arlen and Jerome Kern.

Drawing on extensive archival sources and often using Ira's own words, Michael Owen offers a rich portrait of the modest man who penned the words to many of America's best-loved songs.

About the author

Michael Owen is a historian, researcher, and archivist. He is the author of Go Slow: The Life of Julie London (2017), and the editor of the forthcoming volume The Gershwins Abroad. He currently resides in Port Washington, Wisconsin.

Product details

• Authors: @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@, Michael Owen
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 11.03.2025
• EAN: 9781324091813
• ISBN: 978-1-324-09181-3
• Dimensions: 160 mm x 236 mm x 30 mm
• Weight: 677 g
• Illustrations: 30 illustrations
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Music > Monographs; Individual composers & musicians, specific bands & groups, Musicals, MUSIC / Individual Composer & Musician, MUSIC / Genres & Styles / Musicals, PERFORMING ARTS / Theater / Broadway & Musicals, Biography: arts & entertainment, Theatre Studies, Popular Music, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Music, Musicians, singers, bands and groups, Composers and songwriters, Biography: arts and entertainment, Music of film and stage