Miss Peggy Lee: An Autobiography

Norma Deloris Egstrom (aka Peggy Lee) of Jamestown, N.Dak., at 68, still sings to sell-out audiences, and her record albums are bestsellers. In this fluent autobiography, starting with her ``discovery'' in 1941 by Benny Goodman, she describes her years of suffering and romancefrom her childhood, when she was constantly beaten by her stepmother, to her various love affairs and four marriages. Her low self-esteem is confirmed or denied (depending on the reader's point of view) by her frequent naming of prominent people who are/were close friends (Sinatra and Cary Grant), for whom she made breakfast, or who were merely in her audience. She gushes about the songs she wrote or made famous, about her dogs, her granddaughter, her daughter's paintings, her double-bypass surgery. Still, P. L., as she refers to herself, has been an international star for more than 40 years and she did single-handedly revive the supper-club business, so her many fans will welcome her sticking to her guns and admitting that she's still growing up. (Mar.)