David Kaufman's long-awaited, definitive biography of Doris Day takes readers to the epicenter of American popular culture--a roller-coaster saga, from the 1940s to the 1980s. While Day symbolized virtuous America to the rest of the world--especially in her heyday, the 1950s and early 1960s--both she and that era are still perceived as being far more innocent and carefree than they really were. Indeed, what makes Day's story so richly fascinating is the fact that she was in many ways the opposite of her image as "the girl next door."