Loaded with anecdotes (usually fond) about show biz biggies, the ordinary people in her life, and even, once, Harry Truman – as well as her pranks and gaffes – her good-hearted autobiography was originally published in 1989. Now it’s back in print, with an expanded epilogue and 38 pages of well-compiled “Recommended Listening” and master recording data. There’s also, from 1953, “Softly – with Feeling: A Collection of Verse by Peggy Lee,” until now a privately published 43-page gathering of her succinct, quietly witty observations. Her poems, like her classic discs such as “Fever,” show she understood the impact of understatement. Her specifics on a few recording sessions reveal the breadth of her artistic brilliance. [Source: Bruce Sylvester, Goldmine]
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