The Gershwins

From Front Flap: "The dictionary defines 'unique' as unequaled, unparalleled and incomparable. To be unique is to be singular, but the brothers George and Ira Gershwin redefined that words as easily as they reworked the conventions of the American musical theater. BOTH of the Gershwins were unique -- unique as individuals and unique as the composer and lyricist of what many consider to be the greatest theater music in the world. 'The Gershwin' is a generous, lavish and colorful tribute to America's greatest musical-theater talents, published on Sept. 26, 1973, the 75th anniversary of George's birth, and compiled, edited, cared for and produced by the people who know George and Ira Gershwin best. The book is a combination scrapbook, journal, album, home movie and pictorial biography of George and Ira, the joint effort of Robert Kimball, creator and editor of 'Cole,' and Alfred and Simon, rehearsal pianist for George and a long-time friend of the Gershwin family. Prepared with the aid, comfort and blessing of Ira Gershwin. 'The Gershwins' has received the affectionate cooperation and participation of an all-star cast of family, friends, colleagues and admirers - among them Frances Gershwin Godowsky, Emily Paley, Mabel Schirmer, Kay Swift, Richard Rodgers, Irving Berlin, E.Y. Harburg, Fred Astaire, Irving Caesar, Harold Arlen, Lotte Lenya, George Balanchine, Kitty Carlisle, Todd Duncan, the late Oscar Levant and many others. There is a wealth of material from private family collections as well - from Vernon Duke's Oscar Hammerstein's, Du Bose Heyward's Lorenz Hart's, to name a few - decorated with more than 350 PHOTOGRAPHS, many from personal albums, including color plates of rarely photographed Gershwin paintings. All of this plus lyrics of the Gershwins' most celebrated songs, music sheets, works-in-progress, diaries, journals and musical and theatrical memorabilia galore. The result result is 'The Gershwins' - a biography and a celebration, a magnificent volume that evokes the sounds, the songs and the life of the golden age of American musical theater by recalling the lives and gifts of two of its brightest and most beloved ornaments."

this book told me everything that i wanted to know about george and ira. when i was done i felt that i knew them myself. i totally reccomend this book to anyone with the slightest intrest in either one (or both) of the gershwins.