Killing Me Softly: My Life in Music.

First edition of the memoir of composer Charles Fox. Octavo, original cloth, frontispiece facsimile of the music to "Killing Me Softly With His Song", illustrated with black-and-white photographs. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the title page to Charles Strouse, "For Barbara & Charles with love, Charles Fox." The recipient, Charles Strouse, was a Tony, Grammy, and Emmy Award-winning composer whose fifty-year career produced some of the most enduring works in the history of American musical theater, among them Bye Bye Birdie, Applause, and Annie, as well as the theme song for the classic sitcom All in the Family (“Those Were the Days”). His partnership with Martin Charnin on Annie produced one of Broadway's most successful scores ever, with "Tomorrow" and other songs from the production becoming enduring American musical standards admired by generations. His reach knew no genre or generation, from a number-one Billboard hit in 1958 to Jay-Z's Grammy-winning sampling of "It's the Hard-Knock Life" four decades later, and his honors include three Tony Awards and induction into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Theater Hall of Fame. From the collection of Strouse and his wife, the choreographer Barbara Siman, with his ownership stamp to the front free endpaper. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Foreword by Roberta Flack. An exceptional musical association copy, uniting two of the American songbook's most successful composers and accompanied by the melody of one of the best-loved songs of the era in its creator's own hand.