Somebody’s Angel Child (Masterplots II: Juvenile and Young Adult Biography Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Carman Moore
- First Published: 1969
- Time of Work: 1894–1937
- Setting: Tennessee, Georgia, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois, and New York
- Principal Characters: Bessie Smith, Charles P. Bailey, Jack Gee, Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Milton Starr, Frank Walker, Clarence Williams
- Genres: Nonfiction, Biography
- Subjects: African Americans, Racism, Music or musicians, 1920’s, 1930’s, Poverty or poor people, Singing or singers, Nightclubs, Biography, Popular music
- Locales: New York, Georgia, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, New Jersey, Illinois
Form and Content
In Somebody’s Angel Child: The Story of Bessie Smith, Carman Moore gives a narrative account of the life and music of Elizabeth “Bessie” Smith, who was known as the “Empress of the Blues.” While the main focus of the book is the singer’s personality, Moore also alludes to the social and historical circumstances that shaped Smith’s music in the 1920’s and 1930’s.
The book’s treatment of its subject is not scholarly. Instead, Moore offers an intensely subjective account of the singer’s life. Although the work was not written...
[The entire page is 1372 words long]
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