About the Author

Randy L. Schmidt compiled and edited Yesterday Once More and served as creative consultant for several television documentaries on the Carpenters, including the E! True Hollywood Story, A&E's Biography, and VH1's Behind the Music. Dionne Warwick is a popular American singer, an actress, and activist; a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization; and the former United States Ambassador of Health.

Reviews

"[A] heart-rending biography . . . The author relates Karen's story in writing as fluid and affectless as her singing . . . As Schmidt details Karen's unstoppable fall, Little Girl Blue becomes one of the saddest tales in pop . . . This compassionate book gives a tortured waif the third dimension she deserved." --New York Times Book Review

"Heartbreaking. . . . Schmidt succeeds in bringing a gifted, troubled musician to vivid life." -- People

"Told with compassion and understanding, this poignant and richly fascinating story of Karen Carpenter reads more like a novel you can't put down than the extensively and impeccably researched biography it actually is." -- David Kaufman , author of Doris Day: The Untold Story of the Girl Next Door

"A fascinating, and at times harrowing, read. . . . Schmidt adds vital new information to our understanding of this contradictory and conflicted artist. . . . We know how her story ends, but Schmidt has made it as absorbing as it is deeply humane." -- Blurt

"[Schmidt's] fresh perspective reanimates the rise and fall of an American recording icon. . . . [A] dense, fact-filled treatment, which carefully skirts sensationalism while exposing new truths in this haunting tragedy." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Very comprehensive . . . heartbreaking." -- Minneapolis Star Tribune

"The copious research and quick-moving narration make this a volume that die-hard Carpenters fans and casual listeners alike will find interesting." -- Publishers Weekly

"Like most of Karen Carpenter's songs, this book pulls you in and triggers more emotion than you bargained for. Finally, the story of this angelic voice is told." -- Stephen Cox , author of The Munsters: A Trip Down Mockingbird Lane