What Happened, Miss Simone?: A Biography by Alan LightMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
"What Happened Miss Simone" is an interesting biography of a fiercely talented, and fierce, woman. The same unflinching honesty and raging sorrow that made Nina Simone iconic and indispensable to the times--writing, for instance, the searing "Mississippi Goddamn" after the 1963 Birmingham church bombing that killed four young girls--often rendered Simone's personal life chaotic and miserable.
The book, written by Alan Light, was inspired by the Netflix documentary of the same name. This is not a book not for fans who want this pioneering black pianist and performer placed on a pedestal, to be admired and dusted from time to time. It's a book about a real person, striving, earthy, sexual, insecure and sometimes unhinged, who shot for the stars and in the process became one.
One of the coolest things about Simone, aside from her larger-than-life stage presence and political prescience, is she always knew her own worth as a musician. She would never start singing until the audience was hushed. This is a book that leaves the reader hushed.
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