Wishing on the Moon
The Life and Times of Billie Holiday

I have read other books written about Lady Day but this is the most comp!ex and complete, by far the best of its kind. It's a view into Lady's complicated, often sad life with multiple interviews with many musicians who performed with her as well as with long time friends who knew her well. It's als......more

A truly astonishing read. I've been a fan of Billie Holiday since I was about 16 years old, and knew something of her tragic life. Clarke's biography paints a far more complex picture than I'd imagined. Here, Holiday is shown to be a genuine paradox. She is a slave to addiction and yet incredibly st......more

In the beginning of the story, Wishing on the moon the book focused on mainly the era itself, in Harlem, and what was socially accepted, through the segregation of the races. Through the beginning it spoke on how African Americans would not give into conformity, and in the era a extreme hatred towa......more

Billie Holiday had a gift for singing, but not for living. In this book, we learn of her rise through a natural gift, her career peak during the late 30s-late 40s, her descent into drug addiction. Holiday had a wretched childhood that ended abruptly when she was forced into a life of prostitution wh......more

This book starts out a bit on the dry side - but just keep going. You will feel yourself disappear into Lady Day's shoes. This book is amazingly complete, as it builds on the work of another historian who captured oral histories from many people - often just in time. There were many things I didn't k......more