The Gershwin Years is both the definitive biography of the Gershwin brothers and an illustrated chronicle of the American era their music and lyrics embodied. George (1898-1937) and Ira (1896-1983) drew inspiration from its varied faces - black culture for Porgy And Bess, the frantic sophistication of the 1920s for such musical comedies as Funny Face and Girl Crazy, and the tumult of American politics for the satirical Of Thee I Sing. This dual biography celebrates their musical achievements while offering a revealing inside look at the brothers themselves: from George's Tin Pan Alley days as a song plugger and Ira's first attempts at lyric writing to their conquest of Broadway and Hollywood, from their collaborations and George's solo compositions (Rhapsody in Blue, Concerto in F, and An American In Paris) to George's death from a brain tumour, and Ira's later work with Kern, Weill and Arlen. The Gershwin Years presents an authoritative, visually entertaining and altogether reliable account of the 'Wright Brothers' of American music.

With an introduction by Carl Van Vechten.

EDWARD JABLONSKI is the author of Harold Arlen: Happy With The Blues, The Encyclopedia of American Music, Gershwin, and Alan Jay Lerner. For fourteen years LAWRENCE D. STEWART worked with Ira Gershwin organizing the Gershwin Archives, and is the author of the first critical study of composer/author Paul Bowles.

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