The Man that Got Away: The Life and Songs of Harold Arlen

Harold Arlen is likely not a household name, nor is he remembered today outside of certain musical circles. Music historian Rimler (George Gershwin) remedies this neglect in this sometimes pedestrian but often deeply illuminating and moving biography of the man who gave us "Over the Rainbow" and "Stormy Weather." Drawing on interviews with Arlen's friends and fellow musicians, Rimler traces Arlen's life from his childhood as the son of a cantor in a Buffalo synagogue and his early love of jazz and dance bands to his marriage to Anya Taranda and his collaborations with Yip Harburg and Ira Gershwin, among others, as well as the rise and decline of the musical culture in which composers like Arlen flourished. Rimler follows Arlen's slow and patient ascent to the pinnacle of success with the composition of "Over the Rainbow" for The Wizard of Oz, a song initially cut from the movie but one that Judy Garland so well made her own that listeners think of it as her song, not associating it with Arlen. As his wife slides slowly into the inferno of madness brought on by a brain tumor, Arlen himself descends into the hell of alcohol abuse, from which he recovered, though never to achieve the height of his early success. Rimler's study ensures that Arlen's story and his contributions to music will not be forgotten. (Aug.)