Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams: The Early Years, 1903-1940

"In his data-packed, tirelessly adulatory biography of Bing Crosby, Gary Giddins often tells his readers more than they need to know. ....[F]or all the prodigious research that makes this an obvious labor of love and only half of a projected two- volume opus, there is something essential missing. In some fundamental way, it's Crosby himself; he is embedded in the book everywhere but never freed to be its vibrant subject. To the extent that a man most often described as easygoing was not knowable, perhaps that opacity was inevitable, but not necessarily. This biography is best read to the accompaniment of a Crosby soundtrack. And the suppleness of the music shames the turgidness of the book.Gary Giddins is the author of 'Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams: The Early Years, 1903-1940' with ISBN 9780786234233 and ISBN 0786234237.