Named one of the Best Books of 2023 by the New Yorker and The New York Times' Dwight Garner“The first comprehensive biography of this hipster magus . . . [John Szwed] allows different sides of Smith’s personality to
About the Author
John Szwed is the author or editor of nineteen books, including biographies of Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Sun Ra, and Alan Lomax. He has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, and in 2005 he was awarded a Grammy for Doctor Jazz, a book included with the album Jelly Roll Morton: The Complete Library of Congress Recordings by Alan Lomax. He lives in Philadelphia with his family.