Strange Fruit - by David Margolick (Paperback)

"Strange Fruit" - The Unforgettable Song of Protest and Empowerment Get ready to be moved by the hauntingly beautiful song that has become an anthem for civil rights and social justice.

"Strange Fruit," as performed by the legendary Billie Holiday, is a powerful evocation of lynching and racial violence in America.

This book provides an in-depth look at the song's origins, its impact on the Civil Rights movement, and the lives of the beleaguered Billie Holiday and Abel Meeropol, the white Jewish schoolteacher and communist sympathizer who wrote the song that would have an impact on generations of fans, black and white, unknown and famous. With thorough research and engaging writing, Margolick recreates the tense web of bitterness, guilt, denial, and anger that surrounds Holiday's charged performances of "Strange Fruit." The book works on several levels: as tribute, elegy, homage, and cultural history.

It explores how just 12 lines of lyrics and an unobtrusive score captivated nightclub audiences, terrified promoters and radio stations, and inspired activists in the 1940s. Margolick's account cuts away the myths that have grown up around both Holiday and her most famous song, allowing readers to discover the true origins of "Strange Fruit" and the circuitous paths it took to the center of a nation's conscience.

The book includes commentary and reaction to the song from black and white audiences of different eras, and writers and musicians as varied as Lena Horne, Paul Robeson, Pauline Kael, Charles Mingus, Cassandra Wilson, Maya Angelou, among others. "Strange Fruit" not only chronicles the civil rights movement from the '30s on but also examines the lives of the beleaguered Billie Holiday and Abel Meeropol, the white Jewish schoolteacher and communist sympathizer who wrote the song that would have an impact on generations of fans, black and white, unknown and famous.

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in American history, jazz, race relations, or the power