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The Good Life: The Autobiography Of Tony Bennett
by: Tony Bennett

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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 780
EAN: 9781416573661
ISBN: 1416573666
Label: Atria
Manufacturer: Atria
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 304
Publication Date: August 24, 2007
Publisher: Atria
Sales Rank: 840340
Studio: Atria

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Product Description:
He's that regular guy from Astoria, Queens, who left his heart in San Francisco. He's the postwar heartthrob who inspired hundreds of young girls to wear black outside St. Patrick's Cathedral on his wedding day. He's the darling of the MTV generation who made music history when, at the age of 68, he won the coveted Grammy Award® for Album of the Year. He's the consummate artist known worldwide for his paintings. He's Tony Bennett, whose star shines brighter than ever as he enters his fifth decade of performing. Now, for the first time, this legend shares his amazing life story -- in a voice that's pure Tony Bennett: warm, resonant, and unforgettable.

'Tony Bennett has not just bridged the generation gap, he has demolished it,' praised The New York Times. Since his appearance with the Red Hot Chili Peppers of the 1993 MTV Video Awards, and the addition of his seminal video, 'Steppin' Out,' to the MTV playlist, Bennett has become the hottest -- and coolest -- pop-culture icon for today's younger listeners, while remaining beloved by their parents and grandparents. An astonishing four generations have experienced the Tony Bennett magic -- the mesmerizing spell of a singer in love with singing, who embraces his audience with a soulful serenity communicated by both the man and his music.

Honored with countless awards, including eight Grammys, and with more than ninety albums to his credit (more than thirty million sold for the Columbia label alone), no other recording artist has attained Bennett's stature -- or garnered the half-century of memories shared in The Good Life. From Sinatra, Judy Garland and Ella Fitzgerald, to k.d. lang and Elvis Costello, Bennett shares his unique takes on the most fascinating talents of our time. Here is the story of his lifelong love affair with art, music, and performing -- from his childhood in Depression-era Queens, where opera and Billie Holiday flowed freely; to his stint as a singing waiter; to soaking up the New York jazz scene in the 1940s. With crisp wit and firmly grounded emotion, Bennett captures the people and places that shaped his sublime performances. The dozens of hits he introduced to the great American songbook, including 'Because of You,' 'Rags to Riches,' 'Cold, Cold Heart,' and his signature song, 'I Left My Heart in Son Francisco,' remain a legacy of truth and beauty for the classic art of intimate singing.

In this wonderfully revealing self-portrait, we get to know Tony Bennett as he really is: an unpretentious and thoughtful human being. His key to success is consistency: His constant dedication in his pursuit of excellence has never wavered, despite the trials and tribulations one can encounter when placing integrity above all else. Through all of his personal and artistic challenges, he has remained, in his own words, 'a humanist' whose Zen-like philosophy of life is an inspiration for all ages. Like the fascinating story he shares in The Good Life, Tony Bennett is one of a kind, an American treasure, an enduring artist seasoned with experience and self-knowledge, and a true class act.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Great Gift for the Tony Bennet Fan
I bought this autobiography of Tony Bennett to give to my father, an octogenarian, for his birthday. Tony Bennett has fans in 3 generations: my dad's, mine, and my twenty-something children. For those who love his music, the book will also give you a new insights into Tony Bennett, the painter.

Rating:

- It's As If We Were Having A Conversation
I received this book as a gift from a friend after see Tony Bennett live here in San Francisco. I decided to take a little time and thought I'd read a couple of paragraphs then go on with my day. Well, from the introduction on I found that I could not put the book down. I read it from cover to cover in one sitting which I normally do not do unless the book is of real interest.

The writing style was conversational and had me thinking to myself I feel as though he's right here sitting and talking with me. The book begins with accounts of his parents and family immigrating to the US from Italy. His stories of his early childhood with his Mother working so hard to make ends meet along with cherished memories of family get togethers etc... had me remembering and relating in so many ways to my Italian/Greek upbringing. The pictures he paints with words are vivid as are his real life paintings of which ... Read More

Rating:

- A surprisingly good read, in many ways . . .
There's a Bennett anecdote I remember hearing reported on local (San Francisco) radio back in the early '60s: A local woman, gardening in her backyard one Saturday afternoon, was listening to Bennett's then-new "I Left My Heart In San Francisco;" suddenly, she realized, the singing had become somehow stereophonic. Looking up, she found Tony Bennett grinning at her over her backyard fence. In town for an appearance at the Fairmont Hotel, Bennett had been out for a walk; hearing her phonograph, he'd been unable to resist . . .

This is the Tony Bennett you get to meet in the pages of "The Good Life." If you're a fan, nothing in this book will change your mind. If you're not, well then, despite the fact that there does appear a certain sense of "glossiness" in his account of his life, loves, marriages, etc., you may well find yourself coming to nonetheless admire the man.

A word about that "glossiness": ... Read More

Rating:

- Is there all that is?
Considering talents of both Tony Bennett and Will Friewald,I was very disapointed with such a feather-light collection of show-biz anecdotes.Bennett is a classy singer whom I really appreciate,with both taste and style,while Friewald already stunned me with his books about Jazz singers and Frank Sinatra.... its a little,tiny,short book that strangely lacks any personal comments and views - not different from Duke Ellington's famous autobiography in which he mostly lists his "dear friends and colleagues" with short anecdotes about how he met them,but no opinions whatsoever.Bennett goes into detailed count of every piano player in his long career,but some important points of his life (wife,children,divorce,drug addiction) are mentioned briefly and in one sentence.While counting backing musicians perhaps shows good nature and warm personality,both Ellington and Bennetts books are too breezy considering they are coming from music ... Read More

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