Book review: White Christmas by Jody Rosen

The third book I read in 2017 was White Christmas: The Story of an American Song by Jody Rosen.  It is, as the subtitle proclaims, the story of how the famous song was written and recorded. 

Some interesting facts I discovered in this book:

• Despite being Jewish, Irving Berlin celebrated Christmas with his wife and children.
• He did so with a sorrowful heart, however, as an infant son died on December 24, 1928; he and his wife visited the child's grave every Christmas Eve.
• Bing Crosby recorded the vocals for the song in only two takes and eighteen minutes of studio time.  Five years later, when he had to re-record the song because the master dub plate had been worn down due to its popularity, he recorded it in one take.