The Stardust Road

by Hoagy Carmichael

Hardcover. Acceptable condition. Jacket spine and front and rear jackets are glued to hardcovers. Worn and rubbed jacket with several marks, scores and stains. Upper leading corner of front jacket is creased. Jacket spine is worn, rubbed and creased, with several tears and abrasions. Jacket spine ends are worn and rubbed. One or two marks on page block. Several bumps on pastedowns and endpapers. Pages are tanned. Binding is sound, and the text and illustrations are clear. AF

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction

156 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1946

About the author

Howard Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for composing the music for "Stardust", "Georgia on My Mind", "The Nearness of You", and "Heart and Soul", four of the most-recorded American songs of all time.

Reviews

[Jeff Stookey · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I began studying the 1920s, one of the first books on music of that period that crossed my radar was Hoagy Carmichael’s The Stardust Road, a nostalgic look back at his college years, early 1920s at Indiana U, and his friendship with Bix Beiderbecke and others. The book gives an intimate picture of the period.

[Glory · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was so cool to learn about his life, I love the way he writes about Indiana and Bloomington and how those years of his life at IU shaped who he was. Him writing about his college experiences made me long for an experience I didn’t get to have LOL… read this for research for a local history class I took but it was just really entertaining overall!! My fave quotes:

"it was a hot night, sweet with the death of summer and the hint and promise of fall. a waiting night, a night marking time, the end of a season. the starts were bright, close to me, and the north star hung low over the trees."

"never be 21 again; so in love again. never feel the things i’d felt. the memory of love’s refrain…"

[Krystie Herndon · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a Hoosier, I felt it my duty to get to know a bit more about Hoagy Carmichael, one of Bloomington's hometown heroes. As gifted a musician as the man was, I hope someone else writes a biography about him, because I found this autobiography too disjointed, too full of in-jokes for those of us who were not there when he hung out with his IU frat brothers.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

An endearing little memoir covering a slice of time nearly a century ago. I approached this book knowing little to nothing about any of the people involved, having only read an excerpt in an anthology... that small preview was enough to tell me that I wanted more.

[Raa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Born and raised Hoosier; mainly in Bloomington where he got an undergrad then law degree. Fascinating story of early jazz and just of his life in general

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

the guy wrote the tunes to Stardust, Georgia On My Mind, Skylark, The Nearness of You, and even Heart and Soul. his autobiography has a lot in it about an obscure and tragic early jazz trumpet hero named Bix. Hoagy's prose is artistic in a mid 20th century kinda way

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short but brilliant! As much a portrait of Bix Beiderbecke as it is of Hoagy, himself. I loved it

[Jene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written with charm and humor. As an IU graduate with a history degree, I found this book a fun and fascinating look at both the history of jazz, the college campus, 1920s America, and of Indiana.