Gerard Herzhaft’s Encyclopedia of the Blues should be an essential addition to every fan’s bookshelf. It was first published in 1979 in Europe, but after many long trips to the United States, Herzhaft revised his book and released it in the U.S. through the University of Arkansas Press. The book includes alphabetical listing of performers, a discography, and 20 pages that trace the origins of blues standards. This encyclopedia has also been translated into German, Czech, and Spanish. But Herzhaft has written much more. He has penned over 1,000 articles since 1971 on blues history and music, published in nearly every blues and music publication here and abroad. He has written many essays on American music, as well as three blues-themed novels, all of which have been translated into English, and has won several literary awards in France. His Le Blues has been translated into Portuguese, Romanian, and Turkish, thus spreading the blues to millions of new readers and listeners. Finally, Herzhaft participated as a consultant from 1980 to 1992 in the creation of the Center for Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi.
