Pops

Ultimately, Teachout's fine biography shows how much of Armstrong's love of music--and people--was behind that signature million-watt smile. -- Booklist Teachout's portrait reminds us why we fell in love with Armstrong's music in the first place. -- Publishers Weekly A comprehensive, affectionate biography of arguably the single most important figure in the history of jazz...A rewarding jazz biography and a revealing look at a broad swath of American cultural history. -- Kirkus Reviews Best of all, it smartly--and simply--finds unity in contradiction. -- Atlantic Monthly Teachout delivers a taut and well-paced work that is astute in its critical judgments and gripping in its chronicle of the trumpeter's life and times. -- The Weekly Standard . . .terrific biography... -- The Sunday Times (UK) With 'Pops, ' his eloquent and important new biography of Armstrong, the critic and cultural historian Terry Teachout restores this jazzman to his deserved place in the pantheon of American artists... -- The New York Times With prodigious research and a good deal of stylistic grace, the cultural critic has produced a biography as definitive as it is incolclusive about the sources of Armstrong's artistic genius and contradictory personality. -- The Cleveland Plain Dealer. . .the most comprehensive and pleasurable account yet of the trumpeter's complex life and personality. Teachout's vivid and accessible portrayal of Armstrong is one of the book's great pleasures: He will make a fan of the most skeptical reader. -- Kansas City Star. . .compelling... -- The Los Angeles Times Teachout adopts a sophisticated street-level style that mirrors what he loves best about the man known as Satchmo: Armstrong's ability (and willingness) to synthesize high and low culture for an audience as broad as his grin. -- Time Out New York . . .a masterpiece. --Seattle Times Teachout excels at conveying the interplay between Armstrong the artist and Armstrong the entertainer, and at examining the particular challenge of his legacy. --The New Yorker