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Selected Books

Collection of essays
America's Musical Pulse
Includes my essay, "Equal Time"
non-fiction
Jazz Singers: Encyclopedia of African American Culture and History
my essay about great jazz vocalists, male and female
compilation
Riffs & Choruses: a new jazz anthology
extensive selection of the best writing about jazz, edited by Andrew Clark
A Novel
Gringa in a Strange Land
Portrait of the artist as a young woman in Mexico during the 1970's
Biography of a Great American/Woman/ African American Artist/composer and pianist
Morning Glory: a Biography of Mary Lou Williams
"Stunning character...{Mary Lou} Williams has found her writing soul mate in Linda Dahl and the engrossing result is Morning Glory." - Gene Santoro, The New York Times Book Review'
Complete and In-depth Analysis of Women in Jazz
Stormy Weather: The Music and Lives of a Century of Jazzwomen
“The definitive work on women in music – an incredible job of research.”–John Hammond. "For anyone who loves jazz, this is their book." - "Los Angeles Times."
Biography of a Gifted Writer and Interpreter of the Great American Songbook
Haunted Heart: a Biography of Susannah McCorkle
The secret life and tragic death of a great American songbird. "{The book} is vivacious, tender, saturnine, industrious and deeply intelligent." - Leon Wieseltier, "The New Republic."
Short Stories About My Favorite Part of the World
Come Back, Carmen Miranda: Stories about Latin America
The main character is Latin America itself: tragic, lush, violent, romantic. "A wonderful group of stories." - "Danbury News-Times."

Amazon.com: Linda Dahl

my other blog
One of my blogs
Contact the author at dahljazz@​comcast.net
Linda Dahl on Authors Guild website

Haunted Heart: a biography of Susannah McCorkle

One could say of Susannah McCorkle that she was a girl who seemed to have everything. Brains – she was a prize-winning short-story writer, an accomplished linguist, and an exquisite interpreter of the lyrics to a song. Beauty - the kind that radiates from within, and the kind that can be cultivated and tweaked and managed, so that even at the end of her life, she could cut a stunning figure. Talent – she had not only an eye for great songs but a voice that brought them to life. And true grit – how many 23-year-olds, without musical training, would aspire to emulate Billie Holiday, and then come close to realizing that dream? How many would persist?

What she lacked was faith in herself, the confidence that carries one from the last defeat to the next victory. But this was not ordinary failure of nerve: it was something deeper and more disturbing.

–from Chapter One, “Careless Love,” Haunted Heart