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Mitchell James Kaplan

Autore di Per mare e per terra

3 opere 327 membri 36 recensioni

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Comprende il nome: Mitchell James Kaplan

Opere di Mitchell James Kaplan

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Informazioni generali

Nome canonico
Kaplan, Mitchell James
Sesso
male
Nazionalità
USA
Nazione (per mappa)
USA
Attività lavorative
author
Premi e riconoscimenti
Goodreads Choice Awards Best Historical Fiction

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In 1924 Paul Whiteman, legendary impresario and consummate schmoozer, attempts to persuade Katherine Warburg to attend a musical extravaganza at which George Gershwin has “consented” to play his latest composition. Katherine resists. After all, she’s a remarkably gifted, classically trained pianist and knows little of jazz or Gershwin besides his penchant for popular songs, about which the less said, the better. It’s not her type of music, thank you.

But as James Warburg’s wife — the banking Warburgs, known for generous hospitality to literary and musical celebrities — she’s an important target in Whiteman’s publicity campaign, and he’s a difficult man to refuse. Besides, Jascha (Heifetz), Igor (Stravinsky), and Sergei (Rachmaninoff) will be there. So Katherine attends and gets an earful.

Hearing “Rhapsody in Blue” turns Katherine’s world upside down. A deep friendship forms with Gershwin, later an affair, and a musical collaboration as well. “Kay,” as Gershwin nicknames her, knows lessons about orchestration and harmony he’s never learned, while his restless, roving musical imagination jolts her from preconceived notions. He encourages her efforts to compose. Not only does she feel that Gershwin understands her in ways that Jimmy Warburg doesn’t, the lovers enjoy the physical passion missing in her marriage. With a brashness typical of the man, he publicizes their liaison. He writes a musical using her name in 1926: Oh, Kay!, whose hit song, “Someone to Watch Over Me,” remains a standard.

Unfortunately for Kay, Gershwin’s roving imagination takes him into other women’s arms. Warburg, who’s never been faithful to Kay and often disappears for months on end to Europe, has little to complain about. Their daughters sympathize with him, however, a reflection of the sexual double standard and the relative discretion he maintains by conducting his affairs in other countries. They’re both indifferent parents, at best, but Kay bears the brunt. Meanwhile, her composing career takes off — she becomes the first woman to write a complete Broadway score — but she pays a terrible price. And Gershwin will never marry her, she realizes.

I wish I could say that Rhapsody does this story full justice, especially because I’ve loved Gershwin’s music all my life. (To insert a personal note, my wife and I walked down the aisle to strains of “An American in Paris,” because that city is where we got engaged.) I also love the theater, that of the 1920s and 1930s above all; and Kay Warburg (née Swift) makes an excellent protagonist with whom to explore the musical and theatrical happenings of the time. At its best, Rhapsody shows why and how music evokes feeling, and Kaplan astutely analyzes Gershwin’s in particular.

Yet I find the novel a cluttered hodgepodge, stuffed with anything and everything. Instead of beginning at the musical premier of “Rhapsody in Blue,” or even Kay’s life before she met Warburg, the story starts with a needless prologue and hops about like a grasshopper, seldom remaining long in one place. Further, if I listed every famous name that floats through the narrative, from Fred Astaire to Duke Ellington to Dorothy Parker, I’d have no room to review the book. In a way, the name-dropping has a point, because Kay knows nobody before she marries Warburg and barely has two pennies to rub together. Money buys glamor, and she soaks it up. But the People magazine approach wears thin, and the army of famous or soon-to-be famous distracts attention from the key players and the issues they face.

Rhapsody poses several cogent questions, not least about the influence of money on art and the artist, whether genius excuses bad behavior (especially negligent parenting), and what shapes or creates popular taste. But other themes and ideas bury these under a blizzard of famous names, scenes that seem to exist only to reach a certain biographical plot point, and sound bites about current events.

There’s a cartoon psychiatrist I could have done without, even though he was a historical figure, and the pastiche of scenes from New York life never amounts to a lived-in atmosphere. By contrast, Gershwin seems much more likable than his legend would suggest, and though that interpretation may be justifiable, in the composer’s latter years, we see nothing of the nightmare he visited on his intimates, misbehavior resulting from an undiagnosed brain tumor.

Passionate Gershwin fans will find pieces here and there in Rhapsody to enlighten and perhaps delight them, and Kay Swift’s story deserves a hearing. But this novel is one of those in which a lot less would have yielded a lot more.
… (altro)
 
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Novelhistorian | 9 altre recensioni | Jan 25, 2023 |
I appreciate historical fiction that introduces me to historical figures I was unaware of and while I previously knew the name George Gershwin, I had never heard of Kay Swift. This novel is filled with the energy of the first half of the twentieth century and explores several key cultural and historical touchstones of that era - the First World War, the emergence of jazz, the economic collapse of 1929, the tense racial dynamics in Boardway performances. This is the world of George Gershwin and Kay Swift, who are drawn to each other by a shared appreciation of music and composition. Kay is married when they meet, but her life starts to change as she writes music and embarks on a love affair. Kay Swift is definitely someone I want to learn more about and I liked the way this book introduced me to her story. I would recommend this book to historical fiction fans.… (altro)
 
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wagner.sarah35 | 9 altre recensioni | Nov 18, 2021 |
This was a very satisfying read. A story that connects The Spanish Inquisition, Cristobel Colon (aka Christopher Columbus) and the exiling of the Jewish population from Spain.

[a:Mitchell James Kaplan|4277594|Mitchell James Kaplan|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1285335040p2/4277594.jpg] took 6 years to write this book, and the end product deserves praise. For such a weighty subject, the writing flows and the story grabs you by the hand and leads you through the medieval world of what we now consider Spain.

The main protagonist, Luis de Santangel, Chancellor to the court of Isabel and Ferdinand, is a 3rd generation Christian (what the "true" Christians called a converso: one whose family converted from Judaism to Christianity-probably under duress). Luis finds himself, not questioning his faith, but questioning if his faith is only one that should exist. His contacts with Muslim and Jewish citizens lead his family into terrible danger with the Inquisitors. The extremes the Catholic Church went to convert the world is not new information for me, and yet reading of it can still make me tremble and shake my head.

This was not only a study in judgement VS acceptance, but the story of man whose heart fought his brain trying to make sense of it all.

Kaplan is scheduled to publish his new book, Rhapsody( featuring George Gershwin), is scheduled for release later this year. I am looking forward to reading more by him
… (altro)
 
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JBroda | 25 altre recensioni | Sep 24, 2021 |
I loved how the author whisks readers into the 1920s New York scene where a special kind of music is being created despite Nazi rumblings, segregation, prohibition, and amazing Broadway shows that had the world singing. George Gershwin’s music rocked the music world. This author does an amazing job of immersing readers into Gershwin’s personal world and his music through main character Katharine Swift trained pianist.

Katharine sets aside her judgement of Gershwin, noting the rules he was breaking in the music he was playing. “She failed to notice the moment when the music persuaded her to stop thinking and just listen. What she heard then was a man pouring his heart out to the world. At the height of the soaring, lyrical passage two-thirds of the way through, Katharine forgot about the funny parts, the exuberant parts, the piano-against-orchestra quipping and cajoling parts. The sadness and beauty of it enveloped her.”

This author is a master storyteller who combines an intriguing and complex love story between Kay Swift and George Gershwin and how they create beautiful music together. Kay tries to figure out life with her unfaithful husband James Paul and her children, and her obsession with loving and making music with George Gershwin.

Katherine thinks, “The paradox involved in loving two men but not being able to love either fully, or not feeling loved satisfyingly by either, was tearing her apart. Was she at fault, for harboring impossible expectations of others, and of herself?”

The author states, “The job of the historical novelist is to comb out the noise, find the dramatic arc, and shape events into a psychologically and emotionally cogent argument. Inevitably, this involves some reorganization of the raw material. I strive to modify the order of events as minimally as possible. However, storytelling remains paramount.”

I liked how the author based this incredible story on real events, I enjoyed the characters journey, and music of George Gershwin. The music world lost this music man way too soon. It was interesting to learn that Kay Swift was the first woman to complete a score to a Broadway musical in 1930. The title was Fine and Dancy. This story is rich in character and history; it is a fascinating read and one that would work well for your book club to discuss.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have received a complimentary copy of this book by the publisher and NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

Nora St. Laurent
TBCN Where Book Fun Begins!
The Book Club Network blog www.bookfun.org
… (altro)
 
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norastlaurent | 9 altre recensioni | Mar 30, 2021 |

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Statistiche

Opere
3
Utenti
327
Popolarità
#72,482
Voto
3.9
Recensioni
36
ISBN
11
Lingue
2

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