Going My Way: Bing Crosby and American Culture is the first serious study of the singer/actor's art and of his centrality to the history of twentieth-century popular music, film, and the entertainment industry. The volume uses a wide range of scholarly and cultural perspectives to explore Crosby's unique and lasting achievements. It also includes tributes and reminiscences from Bing's widow Kathryn, his grandson Steve, his record producer Ken Barnes, and one of his most popular successors, Michael Feinstein. Other contributors include Gary Giddins, the author of a widely acclaimed recent biography of the singer, and Will Friedwald, the acknowledged expert on the development of the "great American songbook."
In addition to studying Bing Crosby's innovations and remarkable achievements as a recording artist, Going My Way explores his accomplishments as an actor, businessman, and radio and television performer. Going My Way makes an impressive case not only for Crosby's considerable talent and inimitable style, but also for his raising the quality of popular singing to the level of art.
Contributors: Ken Barnes, Samuel L. Chell, Kathryn Crosby, Steven C. Crosby, John Mark Dempsey, Bernard F. Dick, Deborah Dolan, Michael Feinstein, Will Friedwald, Jeanne Fuchs, Gary Giddins, Peter Hammar, M. Thomas Inge, Malcolm MacFarlane, Eric Michael Mazur, Martin McQuade, Elaine Anderson Phillips, Ruth Prigozy, Walter Raubicheck, Linda A. Robinson, Stephen C. Shafer, David White, F.W. Wiggins
Ruth Prigozy is professor of English at Hofstra University. Walter Raubicheck is professor of English and chair of the department at Pace University.
Reviews
These essays focus on the legendary performer in various media during [the years 1931-57]. . . This wide-ranging collection makes it clear that Crosby's importance is not and should never be forgotten. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. --CHOICEThe splendid essays in Going My Way form an intricate collage that captures Crosby at the intersection of so many aspects of American culture. From jazz to film, Catholicism to cartoons, rock 'n' roll to the revolutionary taping of broadcasts, Crosby emerges as a more complex and fascinating figure than any single biographer or historian could render. -- Philip Furia, professor of creative writing, University of North Carolina, Wilmington
This is a fine book about one of the great entertainers in America. It tells of our culture and of one of the biggest stars America ever had, one I was privileged to know and work with. Not only was Bing Crosby the best singer I ever heard but he was also a great actor, and he brought humor and honesty to anything he did. Going My Way captures the essence of Bing. --Margaret Whiting