Ghost of a Chance: A Memoir - Softcover

Duchin, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0375751319 ISBN 13: 9780375751318

Publisher: Random House, 1998

Synopsis

"A tale told with wit and charm . . . It is a sprightly, engaging, and at times hilarious look back at a life spent in music, show business, and what used to be called society."
The Boston Globe

"A bittersweet gem of a book . . . The story of Duchin's life has an elegiac aura of glamour and tragedy that might have come directly from the imagination of F. Scott Fitzgerald."
The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Peter Duchin's glamorous story is about absent fathers, surrogate mothers, and dwelling on the edges of money and power in a tuxedoed world."
Gay Talese

"A great read . . . This book brings back marvelous memories of a very special time."  
Frank Sinatra

About this title

Review:

A strange and compelling mix of celebrity bio and social history, Ghost of a Chance is the autobiography of bandleader Peter Duchin. The son of an even more famous bandleader, Eddy Duchin, Peter Duchin was sent off to be raised by the friends of his socialite mother after her death. Those friends just happened to be the Harrimans, Averell and Marie. After watching "The Eddy Duchin Story," the Hollywood film version of his (biological) father's life, the younger Duchin recalls feeling "pretty beat up and confused." The same can be said of his life in general, but that's what happens when your paternal legacy includes one father who ranked among the top entertainers of an era and another who happened to be one of the richest and most important world figures of a century.

About the Author:

The New York Times Book Review said that Peter Duchin was a living compendium of a hundred years of social history. . . . He has lived a life another man would not have survived.  Orphaned by his glamorous parents, the Newport debutante Marjorie Oelrichs and the famous bandleader Eddy Duchin, he was raised in the privileged, old-money world of Averell Harriman, the diplomat and former governor of New York. He grew up to be America's preeminent society bandleader, effortlessly entertaining and charming partygoers at Truman Capote's Black and White Ball, the White House, and thousands of society galas. As he recalls his life and relates the frank, often surprising recollections of the many friends and famous figures who made up the strange family  of his youth, Duchin also explores the changing face of social life in America.

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0375751319
• ISBN 13: 9780375751318
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384