Irving Berlin's singular devotion to the art of weaving words and music together produced songs of extraordinary quality. During the course of his career, he wrote thousands of songs, sometimes at the rate of at least one a day - but only a few met his high standards. Eight hundred ninety-nine of his songs were registered for copyright, but it is the quality of these songs that is remarkable. Over half of them became hits, and 282 of them reached the "top ten.".

Even more indicative of the quality of his songs is that so many have become "standards" - the kind of song that transcends its own era of popularity to become a timeless part of our musical heritage. Heard today in jazz and cabaret performances, movie sound tracks, and even in television commercials, these evergreens constitute the closest thing America has to a vital body of classical song.

In this book, musical theater historian Philip Furia has written a musical life of America's most beloved composer. With access to the Irving Berlin Archives, he has brought forth new information on how the songs were created and related this to the important incidents in the composer's life. He has truly delineated a "life in song," for Berlin was a man who drew on his entire life's experiences in crafting his musical work.