Ira Gershwin: A Life in Words

Owen (Go Slow: The Life of Julie London) has written the first full-length biography of Pulitzer Prize-winning lyricist Ira Gershwin (1896–1983). His younger brother George gained fame first, with jazzy pop tunes and compositions like “Rhapsody in Blue.” But after Ira began collaborating with George, no one could surpass them. Their first successful song partnership was 1922’s “(I’ll Build a) Stairway to Paradise.” Owen’s book is divided into three parts: Ira’s writing with George; his work after George died in 1937, including three Oscar nominations for best song (notably “The Man Who Got Away”); and his final years struggling to guard George’s reputation (often against the machinations of his own family) while slowly, reluctantly compiling a book of his own lyrics. Owen lovingly describes how Ira built songs. Gershwin believed a song should plant only one idea in itself, preferably in the title. He also gloried in multi-syllabic rhymes like “embraceable/replaceable,” “tipsy in me/gypsy in me.” One critic wrote he must have been born with a rhyming dictionary in his mouth.