Beale Street Dynasty: Sex, Song, and the Struggle for the Soul of Memphis [Paperback]

Adds a fascinating chapter to civil rights history. But for all the hatred it depicts, this gracefully written book never loses sight of the fun that made Handy exalt that stretch of dirt road.All aspects of this complex, fascinating history are told . . . with verve and vivid erudition.Masterful.Preston Lauterbach has conjured a fascinating demimondethats dead and gone. . . . Deftly paints a portrait of the oneimprobable millionaire who towered over this vibrant world.[A]n engaging, surprising, at times edifying tour of a civic past. . . .Preston Lauterbach takes readers on an uproarious, sometimes shocking jaunt through Memphis history by way of Beale Street, the remarkable thoroughfare that has hosted the likes of W.C. Handy, Ida B. Wells, and Richard Wright.Lauterbach has become one of my favorite people to read on 20th-century popular music.The vivid history of Beale Streeta lost world of swaggering musicians, glamorous madams, and ruthless politiciansand the battle for the soul of Memphis.