American Diva: Extraordinary, Unruly, Fabulous [Hardcover]

A [An] impassioned deep dive into the etymology of the titular term. Paredez weaves historical accounts of these bold women into a thrilling cultural memoir&.By the book's end, Paredez's thesis becomes entirely persuasive: The word diva is best used not for an opera virtuoso, but for any bold person whose work nourishes people who are too often starved of power. With Part memoir and part diva cultural history, Deborah Paredezs latest book blew me away. A poet's tribute to divas&A close, personal, well-informed examination of powerful women and their artistic work. In ten exquisitely crafted chapters, Deborah Paredez shows us how divas as diverse as her aunt Lucia, Rita Moreno, Aretha Franklin, and many others define our limitations and our aspirations as individuals, a nation, and a peoplebrown, Black, and queer. Too big, bold, beautiful, and messy to be confined within enclosures or by borders, they lead us somewhere outside, to the edge, through the abyss, to that transcendent space where we might experience something akin to freedom. Here is a book as ambitious, original, and beautiful as its subject. Equal parts memoir, cultural criticism, and music history, Deborah Paredezs eloquent and thought-provoking exploration of divadom radiates with the passion, color, and magnetism of the divas she adores. Is it possible to breathe life into the slack mouth of a term thats been both overused and misunderstood nearly since it became common two hundred years ago? Deborah Paredez proves it is. As Paredez expands the diva definition, she presents a new vision of American culture that is, in true diva fashion, multifaceted and brazenly alive. US