About this Book

Written with the narrative pacing of a novel, this absorbing biography traces Nat King Cole's rise to fame, from boy-wonder jazz genius to megastar in a racist society -- the first African-American to have his own television show. Daniel Mark Epstein brings Cole and his times to vivid life, examining Cole's insistence on changing society through his art rather than political activism, and the famous and influential image of calm, poise, and elegance which concealed the personal turmoil that eventually undermined his health.