6 x 9.25. 344 pgs. 8 page photo section. (2006) Cloth 978-0-472-11564-8 $29.95T  Available Add to Cart Paper 978-0-472-03273-0 $18.95T  Available Add to Cart Search this Book's Content About the Book Praise Look Inside Subjects Biography / Gender Studies--Women's Studies / Music / Music--Jazz

Haunted Heart
A Biography of Susannah McCorkle

Linda Dahl



The secret life and tragic death of a great American songbird

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Praise for the Book

"This is a fine biography, accurate and honest, and full of surprises. . . . highly recommended reading."
---jazzreview.com

"...among the best music biographies I have read in recent years."
---Jazz Journal

"A compelling, sympathetic but often chilling view not only of McCorkle's complexities but also of the difficult business of music itself and of the widespread always potentially fatal illness now better known as bipolar disorder, which the singer hid from so many, even from herself for many years."
---Newsweek

"A brilliant expose of a troubled American songbird, surveying her many achievements as she developed her own
style. . . . a key piece of musical history not to be missed."
---California Bookwatch

"In this comprehensive biography, compiled from meticulous research and interviews with many of McCorkle's confidants . . . Dahl reconstructs a career distinguished by great promise and great sadness . . . doing her best to address a large, looming "Why?" that can never be completely answered."
---The New York Times

". . . a compelling portrait of an artist who was defeated by inner demons. . . . Though McCorkle wore many masks in her life, she revealed much of her pain through her singing. Whether she was jazz or cabaret, her loss was a music tragedy."
---j. b. spins

". . . an intimate and blunt book, full of details about McCorkle's spicy romances, along with material on the creative work that makes her worthy of attention five years after her death."
---The New Republic

"Heart wrenching . . . . Dahl's thoughtful and sometimes harrowing biography is sure to address the lingering questions about Susanna McCorkle's tragic death . . . . she paints an intimate and deeply moving portrait of this lost soul."
---Andrea Marcovicci

"Susannah McCorkle was a mesmerizing singer with a dark side she hid even from her closest friends. Now, thanks to this probing and courageous biography, we can understand the gut ambition that took her to the top of her field and the turmoil that brought her down."
---James Gavin, author of Deep in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker

"Haunted Heart strikingly resembles the woman it describes: it is vivacious, tender, saturnine, industrious, and deeply intelligent. Like Susannah's way with certain ballads, it opens a wound and begins the work of healing it. I am grateful for Linda Dahl's diligence and sympathy."
---Leon Wieseltier

"Susannah's life was dark and daunting. Her music was suave and sunny. Both are honored in this remarkably well-researched and constantly revealing keyhole peek into a haunted life that is both chilling and exhilarating. I could not put it down."
---Rex Reed

“A complicated tale to be unraveled—Susannah’s greatest achievement may well have been her own life story.”
---Will Friedwald, author of Stardust Melodies, The Good Life, Jazz Singing and Sinatra! The Song is You