Florence Foster Jenkins the inspiring true story of the world's worst singer
"People may say that I couldn't sing. But no one can say that I didn't sing." Despite lacking pitch, rhythm or tone, Florence Foster Jenkins became one of America's best-known sopranos, celebrated for her unique recordings and her sell-out concert at Carnegie Hall. Born in 1...
| Main Authors: | Martin, Nicholas (Author), Rees, Jasper (Author) |
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| Format: | Books Print Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York :
St. Martin's Griffin,
2016.
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| Edition: | First U.S. edition. |
| Subjects: |
| Summary: |
"People may say that I couldn't sing. But no one can say that I didn't sing." Despite lacking pitch, rhythm or tone, Florence Foster Jenkins became one of America's best-known sopranos, celebrated for her unique recordings and her sell-out concert at Carnegie Hall. Born in 1868 to wealthy Pennsylvanian parents, Florence was a talented young pianist but her life was thrown into turmoil when she eloped with Frank Jenkins, a man twice her age. The marriage proved a disaster and, in order to survive, Florence was forced to abandon her dreams of a musical career and teach the piano. Then her father died in 1909 and, newly installed in New York, she used a considerable inheritance to fund her passion. She set up a prestigious amateur music club and began staging operas. Aided by her English common-law husband, St Clair Bayfield, she worked tirelessly to support the city's musical life. Many young singers owed their start to Florence, but she too yearned to perform and began giving regular recitals that quickly attracted a cult following. And yet nothing could prepare the world for the astonishing climax of her career when, at the age of seventy-six, she performed at the most hallowed concert hall in America. In Florence Foster Jenkins, Nicholas Martin and Jasper Rees tell her extraordinary story, which inspired the film starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant, and directed by Stephen Frears. |
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| Physical Description: |
240 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 21 cm |
| Bibliography: |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 236-240). |
| ISBN: |
9781250115959 1250115957 |
| Author Notes: |
Nicholas Martin has worked as a croupier, a labourer, a bouncer and a barman. In his early twenties he worked at sea as a deck hand and later as a yacht captain. He then worked as a journalist and travel writer, contributing to The Sunday Times , the Guardian and various magazines, before becoming a screenwriter, graduating from the National Film and Television School in 1992. He lives in London. |