Sing for Your Life: A Story of Race, Music, and Family - Hardcover

PRAISE FOR WHAT DO WOMEN WANT?
"This book -- how do I put this without sounding hyperbolic? This book should be read by every woman on earth. ... It is a must-read for any person with even a remote erotic interest in the female gender." "Salon""

"Shatters many of our most cherished myths about desire." "The Atlantic""

"Fascinating... Threatens to disrupt all the modern stereotypes of female sexuality." "Slate""

"Totally engrossing." "New York""

"One of the summer's hottest books... adds both steam and explosives into the national conversation about what it means to be a woman today." "Vogue""

PRAISE FOR GOD OF THE RODEO
"Chilling and heartbreaking...A vivid, ambitious, and ferociously reported book that reads like a novel." "New York Times Book Review""

"Bergner neither sentimentalizes nor demonizes these men, neither judges nor approves; he just paints them as they are and in so doing delivers an astonishing lesson in sympathy." "Men's Journal""

PRAISE FOR IN THE LAND OF MAGIC SOLDIERS
"Beautifully written...Bergner describes what is magical and what is malign in Africa as well as anyone ever has...A great novelist would be hard pressed to invent such a cast of characters." "Los Angeles Times""

"Astonishing, unsettling...a remarkable book, full of piercing images and brilliantly observed details." "Chicago Tribune""

"A rare book indeed...Bergner's journey is arduous, dangerous, and brave-a journey in which author and reader are irrevocably changed." "Sunday Times of London""

A New York Times bestseller

A New York Times Notable Book

A Washington Post Notable Book

A Publishers Weekly Book of the Year

As seen on CBS This Morning, NPR's Fresh Air, and People Magazine

A New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
A Library Journal Nonfiction Pick of September

The New York Times bestseller about a young black man's journey from violence and despair to the threshold of stardom. "A beautiful tribute to the power of good teachers."--Terry Gross, Fresh Air

"One of the most inspiring stories I've come across in a long time."--Pamela Paul, New York Times Book Review

Ryan Speedo Green had a tough upbringing in southeastern Virginia: his family lived in a trailer park and later a bullet-riddled house across the street from drug dealers. His father was absent; his mother was volatile and abusive.

At the age of twelve, Ryan was sent to Virginia's juvenile facility of last resort. He was placed in solitary confinement. He was uncontrollable, uncontainable, with little hope for the future.

In 2011, at the age of twenty-four, Ryan won a nationwide competition hosted by New York's Metropolitan Opera, beating out 1,200 other talented singers. Today, he is a rising star performing major roles at the Met and Europe's most prestigious opera houses.

SING FOR YOUR LIFE chronicles Ryan's suspenseful, racially charged and artistically intricate journey from solitary confinement to stardom. Daniel Bergner takes readers on Ryan's path toward redemption, introducing us to a cast of memorable characters--including the two teachers from his childhood who redirect his rage into music, and his long-lost father who finally reappears to hear Ryan sing. Bergner illuminates all that it takes--technically, creatively--to find and foster the beauty of the human voice. And Sing for Your Life sheds unique light on the enduring and complex realities of race in America.