Overview
Revisit the golden age of song in this stylish collection of Cole Porter's best. Cole Porter possessed to a singular degree the art of expressing depth through apparent frivolity. The effervescent wit and technical bravura of his songs are matched by their unguarded revelations of feeling. In the words of editor Robert Kimball, ""Porter wrote tellingly of the pain and evanescence of emotional relationships. He gently mocked propriety and said that few things were simple or lasting or free from ambiguity."" Of the masters of twentieth-century American songwriting, Porter was one of the few who wrote both music and lyrics, and, even in the absence of his melodies, his words distill an unmistakable mixture of poignancy and wit that marks him as a genius of light verse. Selected from over eight hundred songs, here are Porter's finest flights of invention, lyrics that are an indelible part of 20th-century culture- ""Let's Do It,"" ""Love for Sale,"" ""I Get a Kick Out of You,"" ""Anything Goes,"" ""In the Still of the Night,"" ""I Concentrate on You,"" and dozens more. About the American Poets Project Elegantly designed in compact editions, printed on acid-free paper, and textually authoritative, the American Poets Project makes available the full range of the American poetic accomplishment, selected and introduced by today's most discerning poets and critics.
Full Product Details
Author: Cole Porter ,
Robert Kimball
Publisher: The Library of America
Imprint: The Library of America
Weight: 0.369kg
ISBN: 9781598537949
ISBN 10: 1598537946
Pages: 200
Publication Date: 12 November 2024
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.
Reviews
“Any treasury of Porter’s classic ditties ought to be worth its weight in gilded wit, and this edition is no exception. It’s delightful, it’s delicious, it’s de-lovely. . . . His technical prowess as a versifier wasn’t just his best-kept secret—it was the secret weapon of his urbane charm.”—David Barber, The New York Times Book Review
Author Information
Robert Kimballis a historian of the American musical theater whose books includeThe Gershwins(with Alfred Simon),Reminiscing with Sissle and Blake(with William Bolcom),Reading Lyrics(with Robert Gottlieb), and volumes devoted to the complete lyrics of Lorenz Hart, Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and Frank Loesser. He is the longtime advisor to the Cole Porter Musical and Literary Property Trust, and the editor of several books on Cole Porter. He received a Drama Desk Award for his rediscovery of lost musical-theater manuscripts in a Secaucus, New Jersey warehouse.
