Louis Armstrong's words are as honest, vivid and powerful as his playing. Louis Armstrong In His Own Words collects the best of what the ever-prolific Satchmo typed out while performing around the globe, including letters to friends and managers, memoirs, and excerpts from an uncompleted autobiography. The editor Thomas Brothers maintains all of Pops' idiosyncratic spelling, punctuation and mark-outs as appeared on the original documents. The humor, resilience and artistry that make Louis Armstrong the greatest voice in American music of the 20th century make this volume an important, fascinating and highly entertaining book.

Oxford University Press, 2001.