New York City

New York City is the most prominent setting in "Crazy They Call Me" as it is where Billie Holiday started and reached the height of her career. The city is described throughout the story as the high point for performers, implied by the Italian woman when she says, "So you can't play New York no more, huh?" (2). It is clear that the speaker revels in the past memories of her time in New York and the way she would enjoy its nightlife as a famous singer, but the city is also represented as a place where entertainment often comes at the cost of the entertainers themselves. She notes that her audiences are composed of "downtown collectors and white ladies in their own fancy furs" (10), suggesting that while New York City was the birthplace of her fame, it is also the place that alerted her to the...