No Regrets The Life of Edith Piaf

Carolyn Burke

eBook - 2012

“Sympathetic . . . captivating . . . highly effective.” —Graham Robb, New York Review of Books “Concise and gracefully written. . . . Burke surveys all [Piaf’s] mayhem with thoughtfulness and respect.” —James Gavin, New York Times Book Review The iconic French singer comes to life in this enthralling, definitive biography, which captures Edith Piaf's immense charisma along with the time and place that gave rise to her unprecedented international career. Raised by turns in a brothel, a circus caravan, and a working-class Parisian neighborhood, Piaf began singing on the city's streets, where she was discovered by a Champs-Elysees cabaret owner. She became a star almost overnight, seduc...ing Paris's elite and the people of its slums in equal measure with her powerful, passionate voice. No Regrets explores her rise to fame and notoriety, her tumultuous love affairs, and her struggles with drugs, alcohol, and illness, while also... more