tales of Blossom Dearie

If there's such a thing as "white writing" (and Roland Barthes insists there is) then Blossom Dearie is "white singing." No, not simply because she's white by racial classification, or because of the whiteness or her hair. The very sound she emits is whiteness, of the sort Poe described at the climax of "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym," and Mallarme alludes to constantly. Naturally it's associated with Death. If anyone is planning to musicalize Jean Cocteau's "Orphee" then Blossom would be ideal as Maria Casares. To say she is "difficult" is like saying Catherine Deneuve is French. Look up "Difficult" in the dictionary and you'll discover Blossom's picture. It's a kind of a trade-off -- the sweet softness of her voice for the hard shell of her actual person...