"With perhaps more success than any biographer so far, Nicholson illuminates complexities in [Holiday's] personality, her art, and her times that made the singer a phenomenon of American culture. As good as he is in biographical detail, his greatest contribution is perspective on the singer's creative process."—Doug Ramsey, JazzTimes
"First-rate."—Choice
"A worthy complement and counterpoint to Holiday's own account."
—Library Journal