PositiveThe New York Times Book ReviewThe author’s style is blunt, unpretentious and brisk; he knows how to move things along entertainingly. Hollywood Eden brings the lost humanity of the record business vividly back to life. The era he explores, however, was as fragile as the perfect wave ... Songs about surfboards and convertibles had turned quaint, but in this book, their coolness is restored.
Elaine M. Hayes
MixedThe New York TimesIt reads like a graceful doctoral dissertation, sensitive to Vaughan’s technical gifts and the development of her art. But it goes awry in its attempt to politicize her as a civil rights and feminist groundbreaker — as though her artistic stature alone would not have justified this book ... Overtheorizing strains her study of the featherweight hits Vaughan recorded in the ’50s for her new label, Mercury ... Despite what the author states, Vaughan was no 'race woman'; she was not inclined to march, campaign or crusade. Her racial significance is more that of a high-achieving, abundantly talented black woman who inspired by example ... Her true legacy was summed up to me by the jazz singer Dianne Reeves, who recalled her first response to Vaughan: “You mean, there are those kinds of possibilities?” On that score, “Queen of Bebop” leaves no doubt.
