Book Description
Praise for Johnny Bush and
Whiskey River (Take My Mind):
"Johnny Bush and I started out together... The story contained in this book is gospel."
—Charley Pride
"From the crown of his western hat down to the tips of his needle-nosed James Leddy cowboy boots, Johnny Bush is pure-D Texas from the get-go. His telling reads like a honky-tonk song, only real; you can hear the hurtin', heartache, cheatin', and pain in every word and feel the boot-scootin' shuffle with every turn of the page."
—Joe Nick Patoski, author of
Selena: Como La Flor and
Stevie Ray Vaughn: Caught in the Crossfire and writer for
Rolling Stone and
No Depression
"Through his talents Johnny Bush has made a significant contribution to country music, and has given to his many fans the joy of magnificent music. You will enjoy meeting this creative man through this book."
—Ralph Emery
"I am as proud of Johnny Bush as I am of Willie Nelson, Roger Miller, and Johnny Paycheck—all Cherokee Cowboys alumni. I am especially proud of his triumph over his debilitating voice problem. This is the real story, told in his own voice."
—Ray Price
"From hard-time hungry Houston childhood to Nashville hit-making, from scuffling honky-tonk sideman to king of the Texas dancehalls, from victim of a strange career-killing illness to comeback kid, Johnny Bush has a Texas-sized story to tell about his life and times in country music. He tells it honestly, with humor and humility. Listen up when he speaks."
—John Morthland, contributing editor,
Texas Monthly, and former associate editor of
Rolling Stone,
Creem, and
Country Music
"Johnny Bush is one of my oldest and dearest friends. He and I started out together in music, and we're still together. Everything that's been said about me in this book, good or bad, is pretty accurate."
—Willie Nelson
"I love Johnny Bush. He is classic Texas honky-tonk, one of our state's treasures. Every honky-tonker out there has tried to sing like him, myself included. Thanks, Johnny, for being a true Texas original, and for your friendship."
—George Strait
When it comes to Texas honky-tonk, nobody knows the music or the scene better than Johnny Bush. Author of Willie Nelson's classic concert anthem "Whiskey River," and singer of hits such as "You Gave Me a Mountain," "Undo the Right," "Jim, Jack and Rose," and "I'll Be There," Johnny Bush is a legend in country music, a singer-songwriter who has lived the cheatin', hurtin', hard-drinkin' life and recorded some of the most heart-wrenching songs about it. He has one of the purest honky-tonk voices ever to come out of Texas. And Bush's career has been just as dramatic as his songs—on the verge of achieving superstardom in the early 1970s, he was sidelined by a rare vocal disorder that he combated for thirty years. But, survivor that he is, Bush is once again filling dance halls across Texas and inspiring a new generation of musicians who crave the authenticity—the "pure D" country—that Johnny Bush has always had and that Nashville country music has lost.
In
Whiskey River (Take My Mind), Johnny Bush tells the twin stories of his life and of Texas honky-tonk music. He recalls growing up poor in Houston's Kashmere Gardens neighborhood and learning his chops in honky-tonks around Houston and San Antonio—places where chicken wire protected the bandstand and deadly fights broke out regularly. Bush vividly describes life on the road in the 1960s as a band member for Ray Price and Willie Nelson, including the booze, drugs, and one-night stands that fueled his songs but destroyed his first three marriages. He remembers the time in the early 1970s when he was hotter than Willie and on the fast track to superstardom—until spasmodic dysphonia forced his career into the slow lane. Bush describes his agonizing, but ultimately successful struggle to keep performing and rebuild his fan base, as well as the hard-won happiness he has found in his personal life.
Woven throughout Bush's autobiography is the never-before-told story of Texas honky-tonk music, from Bob Wills and Floyd Tillman to Junior Brown and Pat Green. Johnny Bush has known almost all the great musicians, past and present, and he has wonderful stories to tell. Likewise, he offers shrewd observations on how the music business has changed since he started performing in the 1950s—and pulls no punches in saying how Nashville music has lost its country soul. For everyone who loves genuine country music, Johnny Bush, Willie Nelson, and stories of triumph against all odds,
Whiskey River (Take My Mind) is a must-read.
Customer Reviews:
Country Music Veteran .......2007-03-29
Not everybody can be Garth Brooks, and thank the Good Lord for that. Johnny Bush is the real deal in country music, he's been laying down good music for years both as a songwriter and singer, primarily on that Texas circuit where the fans demand high quality and will go to the wall for you if they love you. But you have to earn that respect and Bush did. He cut his teeth playing in small time Texas bands like that led by uncle, minor honky tonk legend Jerry Jericho. He then moved up to Ray Price's glorious Cherokee Cowboys. Frustrated in Nashville, he headed back to Texas and built a career based around strong songwriting (he wrote Whiskey River, made famous by Willie Nelson) and solid performance. He tells most in this open, honest autobiography. The text is engagingly written and the stories well told. There is no better insider look at the world of honky tonk music.
Average customer rating:
- Old Chunk of Coal
- Straight forward and honest, just like the man
- IT WAS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE
- Not much to the book
- Great little book
|
Honky Tonk Hero
Billy Joe Shaver , and
Brad Reagan
Manufacturer: University of Texas Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Country & Folk
| Composers & Musicians
| Arts & Literature
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Composers & Musicians
| Arts & Literature
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Memoirs
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Music
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Rock
| Musical Genres
| Music
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Adapters
| Cables & Interconnects
| Computer Accessories
| Accessories & Supplies
| Categories
| Electronics
Cables & Interconnects
| Audio & Video Accessories
| Accessories & Supplies
| Categories
| Electronics
| Audio Cables
| Audio-Video Kits
| Custom Installation
| Plugs & Adapters
| Power Cables
| Pro Audio & Musical Instruments
| Video Cables
Computer Cables
| Cables
| Cables, Adaptors & Accessories
| Sound & Recording Equipment
| Products
| Musical Instruments
| FireWire
| SCSI
| USB
Cables
| Accessories
| Computer Audio
| Sound & Recording Equipment
| Products
| Musical Instruments
| FireWire
| SCSI
| USB
Similar Items:
-
The Portrait of Billy Joe
-
The Earth Rolls On
-
![Live from Austin, Texas [Region 2]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000F4RHW0.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Live from Austin, Texas [Region 2]
-
Tramp on Your Street
-
Restless Wind: The Legendary Billy Joe Shaver: 1973-1987
ASIN: 0292706138 |
Book Description
"Billy Joe Shaver may be the best songwriter alive today.
—Willie Nelson
"He's as real a writer as Hemingway. He's timeless."
—Kris Kristofferson, quoted in the
Dallas Morning News
"[Billy Joe Shaver] was and is that rarest of talents, an utterly distinctive, impeccably honest writer of songs."
—Grant Alden,
No Depression
"Billy Joe is unique. One of a kind. They threw away the mold. The best!"
—Robert Duvall
Willie Nelson says "Billy Joe Shaver may be the best songwriter alive today," and legions of fans agree that Billy Joe is the real deal. Many describe his songs as pure poetry. Shaver sings about a life that's been full of hard times, wild living, and a forty-year-long passion for his late wife Brenda. His songs are raw, honest, and so true that people hear the story of their own lives in his music. No wonder, then, that his songs have also been recorded by artists such as Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, George Jones, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Patty Loveless, John Anderson, Tom T. Hall, the Allman Brothers, the Oak Ridge Boys, and Tex Ritter.
In this compelling autobiography written with the assistance of Brad Reagan, Billy Joe Shaver looks back over a life that some might call a miracle of survival. His father abandoned the family before Billy Joe was born. Troubles in school and in the military turned him into a fighter, and a sawmill accident claimed two fingers and part of a third on his right hand. Yet his innate musical talent and the encouragement of an English teacher set him on the road to being a songwriter—and he never looked back. Shaver recounts his long struggle to break into the music business in Nashville and the success that came when Waylon Jennings recorded his songs on the 1973 album
Honky Tonk Heroes, which became a landmark of outlaw country music. Shaver movingly describes his own thirty-year, up-and-down career as a singer-songwriter in Nashville and Texas, his bouts with alcohol and drugs, his pleasure in touring with his son Eddy and their band Shaver during the 1990s, and the pain of losing Eddy, Brenda, and Billy Joe's mother all within the year 1999-2000.
As full of life, heartbreak, and drama as any of Billy Joe Shaver's songs,
Honky Tonk Hero is the story of a man who not only walked on the wild side and lived to tell about it, but also got it all down in songs that many people consider to be some of the finest country music ever written.
Customer Reviews:
Old Chunk of Coal.......2007-05-01
People must read this book! I must say I did not know much about Billy Joe before reading this but it is clear that this man can teach everyone the true lessons of life. Billy Joe is someone who has truly lived a life and shares it with people in his poems about it:
"When you get down to it country music is essentially the blues, and my whole life the blues have never left me. I've lost parts of 3 fingers, broke my back, suffered a heart attack and a quadruple bypass, had a steel plate put in my neck and 136 stitches in my head, fought drugs and booze, spent the money I had, and burried my wife, son, and mother in the span of 1 year.
"But I'm not here to complain or ask for pity. Life is hard for everybody, just in different ways. I'm not proud of my misfortune--I'm proud of my survival. For years my family kept a kept a bundle of life insurance on me because they were sure I would be the first to go. But as I write this, at 64 years of age, I'm still here and they are all gone." (p.viii)
The actual story is short, but it is very weighty at the same time. You will ponder and grin at every word while he tells his life's story. And after that you will listen to every word of his poems (lyrics) as a glimpse into this mans soul.
There is no need to complain about the brevity of Billy Joe's life story (75 pages). As I said It is very heavy and will surely put you into a different place in time, through the eyes of a man who has lived through it all and is alive still to tell about it; into the soul of a life that only a handful know and countless dream about.
Straight forward and honest, just like the man.......2006-11-04
I have been a fan of Billy Joe's for over thirty years and enjoyed getting to know the background of a unique songwriter and fellow Texan. Although short, this was an entertaining read. A bonus for songwriters like myself, is the section with the lyrics for all of Billy Joe's best known songs. A neat side note- I got my book autographed after a recent concert in Tyler, Texas. Long live Billy Joe Shaver and Texas Music.
IT WAS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE.......2006-07-11
The book was like Billy Joe's music; honest and to the point. It was great reading about his relationships with Waylon and other country stars. The lyrics to all his songs was a wonderful bonus. I only wished there was more.
Not much to the book.......2006-04-15
The book description says 207 pages, but only the first 72 pages are the actual book. The rest of the pages are just lyrics. As one reviewer said "you can read this in one sitting". True, but for $12.97 I guess you can't really complain.
Great little book.......2006-02-17
YOu can read this book in one setting... and it's a winner. Lot's of down home stuff mixed with some very good stories about his growing up. I was amazed he survived the whole music scene and still lives today producing some excellent songs and music. A must read if you admire Billy Joe...
Book Description
Drawing on her peripatetic childhood as the daughter of a travelling salesman, and her adult residence in one of Atlanta's seedier crack neighbourhoods, columnist and NPR commentator Hollis Gillespie has assembled a comic, poignant memoir about her life, starring her unusual family and her crazy friends.
NPR commentator Hollis Gillespie's outrageously funny–and equally heartbreaking–collection of autobiographical tales chronicles her journey through self–reckoning and the worst neighbourhoods in Atlanta in search of a home she can call her own. The daughter of a missile scientist and an alcoholic travelling trailer salesman, Gillespie was nine before she realized not everybody's mother made bombs, and thirty before she realized it was possible to live in one place longer than a six–month lease allows. Supporting her are the social outcasts she calls her best friends: Daniel, a talented and eccentric artist; Grant, who makes his living peddling folk art by a denounced nun who paints plywood signs with twisted evangelical sayings; and Lary, who often, out of compassion, offers to shoot her like a lame horse.
Hollis's friends help her battle the mess of obstacles that stand in her way–including her warped childhood, in which her parents moved her and her siblings around the country like carnival barkers, chasing missile–building contracts and other whimsies, such as her father's dream to patent and sell door–to–door the world's most wondrous key–chain. A past like this will make you doubt you'll ever have a future, much less roots. Miraculously, though, Gillespie manages to plant exactly that: roots, as wrested and dubious as they are.
As Gillespie says, "Life is too damn short to remain trapped in your own Alcatraz." Follow her on this wickedly funny journey as she manages to escape again and again.
Customer Reviews:
By and far one of the the most amazing autobiographies EVER.......2006-11-28
I couldn't put this book down for the 2.5 weeks it took for me to finish it-- I've read lots of biographies and autobiographies, but hardly any of them ever captivated me the way that Hollis' twisted madcap humor and sarcasm filled outlook on her own life experiences did. Some of the instances I can't relate to at all or simply can't imagine it, other ones I related to perfectly...though I bet with these book sales she indeed has found her own true home after all, truly making it all poetic justice.
okay, till i read the author's thank yous.......2006-02-09
Ugh, she's friends w/ Sean Hannity's wife. Nuf said...
You GO, Girl!!!.......2005-11-05
Hollis Gillespie is a modern-day...I can't even come up with a comparison. She is hysterical, and above all things, honest; at times, poignant, painful. The books are essay format, much like her column in Atlanta's Creative Loafing: collections of musings, incidents, and anecdotes from her colorful life. Her books celebrate life, friendship, and dysfunction, out loud, in the midst of cold, hard reality, as if to say: Everybody is broken, but somehow, if you find the pieces of yourself in other broken people out there in the Big World, you'll still be dysfunctional, but you just might be all right.
Bleachy-Haired Honky Bitch, the psuedonym by which she is known in her edgy, crack neighborhood (the price was right), is about finding her place in the world, and buying her first home in an up-and-coming (although not nearly fast enough) intown neighborhood in South Atlanta. She introduces her best friends, Grant, Lary, and Daniel, and relates their eccentric misadventures and relationships. She is brutally honest about her itinerant past, the broken dreams and dysfunction of her parents, an alcoholic traveling trailer salesman (Dad) and a bomb-building rocket scientist/hippie artist (Mom), who carted her and her siblings all over the world. In Atlanta, as an adult, she finds family in her collection of misfit friends, settles down, buys her first home...and continues her outrageous tales of life in her second book, Confessions of a Recovering Slut & Other Love Stories. (Buy them together!)
Sherri Caldwell, co-author, The Rebel Housewife Rules: To Heck With Domestic Bliss!
not very funny.......2005-11-01
I bought this book on an enthusiastic recommendation. What a mistake. It has a few amusing vignettes, but overall is not very funny. A lot of rambling blurbs about some guys named Larry and Grant. She never explained who these guys were, or what their roles were. The writing is very poor--she rarely comes up with the right word. She doesn't write complete stories, just word images. So often my response to a section was "okay and then what?". Please, David Sedaris she isn't. Take a close look before you buy.
Dynamic! Hollis will leap off the page at you!.......2005-10-18
Gillespie packs a serious punch with her very short (only a few pages) essays, each of which is accompanied by a small picture of Gillespie in wacky sunglasses or a zany pose. She's transcended the medium of the book to jump out and ingrain her larger-than-life image in the reader's mind, and the style works.
Despite what the title says, Gillespie doesn't confine her tales to one particular bad neighborhood. Her anecdotes take the reader around the world, and if you can handle this bleachy-haired honky bitch, you are in for a real treat!
Book Description
As recalled in
Honky, Dalton Conley’s childhood has all of the classic elements of growing up in America. But the fact that he was one of the few white boys in a mostly black and Puerto Rican neighborhood on Manhattan’s Lower East Side makes Dalton’s childhood unique.
At the age of three, he couldn’t understand why the infant daughter of the black separatists next door couldn’t be his sister, so he kidnapped her. By the time he was a teenager, he realized that not even a parent’s devotion could protect his best friend from a stray bullet. Years after the privilege of being white and middle class allowed Conley to leave the projects, his entertaining memoir allows us to see how race and class impact us all. Perfectly pitched and daringly original,
Honky is that rare book that entertains even as it informs.
Download Description
This intensely personal and engaging memoir is the coming-of-age story of a white boy growing up in a neighborhood of predominantly African American and Latino housing projects on New York's Lower East Side. Vividly evoking the details of city life from a child's point of view--the streets, buses, and playgrounds--Honky poignantly illuminates the usual vulnerabilities of childhood complicated by unusual circumstances. As he narrates these sharply etched and often funny memories, Conley shows how race and class shaped his life and the lives of his schoolmates and neighbors. A brilliant case study for illuminating the larger issues of inequality in American society, Honky brings us to a deeper understanding of the privilege of whiteness, the social construction of race, the power of education, and the challenges of inner-city life. Conley's story provides a sophisticated example of the crucial role culture plays in defining race and class. Both of Conley's parents retained the "cultural capital" of the white middle class, and they passed this on to their son in the form of tastes, educational expectations, and a general sense of privilege. It is these advantages that ultimately provide Conley with his ticket to higher education and beyond. A tremendously good read, Honky addresses issues both timely and timeless that pertain to us all.
Customer Reviews:
A pretty damn good book........2007-06-17
I was assigned to read this by my High School teacher in summer.
This book really shows the real life of kids unlike the other books I've read. This story lacks a main focus though, it's mainly about a kid's life from almost start to around the age of a teen.
This book was interesting to read. I'd like to give out details but, I'm afraid I might spoil it for you all. :(
But, the ending wasn't what I was expecting, so that was kind of a letdown.
Great book, get it and read it!
Brilliant Memoir with Bright Insights!.......2007-06-05
Honky is a memoir in which Dalton Conley reflects on his youth. He tells of his position that seems so peculiar and uncommon: a white minority. What is so great about this book is that it is a lesson in racial and social stratification; however, by weaving wit, wisdom, and analysis, Conley makes it feel as though it is just a novel. This is a true example of making academic analysis personal and exciting to read, something we do not see too much of these days.
I was first inspired to read this book after taking Dalton Conley's Introduction to Sociology Course at NYU. He makes his presence known in person as well as the fact that he makes his voice come through the pages of Honky.
W/O objectification.......2007-05-28
This was one of the greatest reads that I had come across on the close examination of 'how races are lived in US'. Due to the nature of the author's profession (a sociologist), the handle of it is skillful and clinical as possible when he gets down to the subject of 'how people lived in NYC'. And the huge part of it is inevitably about races. The triumphe of this project is that the author somehow manages to carry the whole process out without objectifying the subject or dehumanizing people who are involved because he includes himself as the huge part of the experiment, the project and THE LIFE in NYC in 80's. To his eyes, himself as an only white kid among predominantly Black and hispanic kids or Chinese school system in lower Manhattan is just another life in the time and the place. The persepective he carries through the book is literally so rare that I am astonished to learn what a treasure he has had. I do appreciate the fact that he has incorporated the whole experiences to make it really accessible to indiscriminate readers.
The Same, Yet Different.......2006-05-22
Dalton Conley has written a very good book looking at race relations through the prism of his life growing up white in a largely minority project of New York City. What comes out of his writing are two points.
First: Being the minority in any situation is not good. Conley writes about being picked on and beat up for being white. He writes about being the provebial outsider because of his skin color. He writes about his various friends of different colors and the politics surrounding their friendships in the hood. Interestingly, he writes about being treated differently by the teachers because of his skin color. Conley writes about not being hit by minority teachers because they thought that white parents were soft on their children and they would not allow him to be struck. Do I hear the word stereotype? HMMM...
Second: There are advantages to being white, even if you are poor. This is one point that Conley drives home time and time again. Yes he was beaten up for being white, but he also was able to go to better schools due to connections of his parents. You find out all of the parents that cared for their children tried to move them to better schools with the address game, except because his parents had friends in better neighboorhoods he was able to go to the schools his friends couldn't. Conley was also able to go to the country for summer vacation that his peers did not have access. His parents were poor, but also educated and that made a difference in his life. Conley had a role model which helped him leave the projects.
This book is poignant. I lived a somewhat similar life as a white kid among minorities for a good number of years. While my experiences are not exactly the same, they do have similar bases of being beat up for being white and trying to steer through the racial politics of friendship when your friends abandon you because it is easier than standing and doing the right thing in the face of large groups. Being treated differently in school by teachers agravated various situations, even if the teachers were minorities themselves and were doing the right thing for all concerned. These are some of the same experiences, but not on the harsh level he lived.
Honky is a good read and gives some insight to living white inside minority neighborhoods. A good comparison to "Honky" is "All Souls" by Michael Patrick McDonald. A story of an Irish Catholic family growing up in South Boston. There is plenty of racism there also, but from the other side and growing up depseratly poor is the key to both books. Highly Recommended
Thanks for the memories.......2005-11-26
I grew up in the lower east side around the same time as Dalton. The Baruch projects was my home from birth to age 27. I was able to enjoy this book at three levels. One, is was a validation of my experiences. I was a nuyorican nerd who felt like I belonged and didn't belong. I believe Dalton had that feeling as well. I also thought the book indirectly educated people about identity; although white, Dalton was one of us, a lower east sider. Lastly, I enjoyed it as an american story. Alot of people made it out of there and did well.
My only criticisms have to do with some of the time-lines. They don't match my memory (e.g., drugstore hostage dates may be off. Stuff like that was memorable because it was rare). I also wished that Dalton would have addressed issues around racial identity of the the people in the Lower East Side. Puerto Ricans adopted alot of african-american ways. Also, there were white puerto ricans who had some of the advantages that Dalton could have-Albert Ortega, Ph.D.
Product Description
This book/CD set features 25 twangy intermediate-to-advanced solos in the classic honky tonk style. If you love the sound of a twangy Telecaster guitar, you will enjoy learning the solos in this book. It is the best classic country solos book available!
This is an intermediate to advanced book for players having basic skills. However, a brave and ambitious beginner might be able to tackle the slower solos.
The solos contain many great LICKS and IDEAS that can be used by a creative onstage country guitarist.
All solos are written in TAB and standard notation, and recorded on the companion CD.
Few styles of music have enjoyed the widespread and enduring popularity of country music. Through the years, country music has developed from the rural Southern string band sound to the raw honky-tonk of the postwar period, the Nashville pop sounds of the late 50s and 60s, and finally the overly slick commercial sound of today.
The solos in this book sound like the breaks one might hear on classic recordings by Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Lefty Frizell, George Jones, and similar artists who defined the exciting honky-tonk sound of the 50s to late 60sbefore rampant commercialism eliminated virtually all originality and feeling from popular country guitar solos.
Several hundred popular country recordings were researched to come up with the 25 chord progressions in this book. Each progression was found to be common to several popular songs.
A solo incorporating various concepts and techniques was composed to each progression. The result is an authentic sounding collection of country guitar solos through which various ideas can be analyzed.
Book Description
With its steel guitars, Opry stars, and honky-tonk bars, country music is an American original. The most popular music in America today, it’s also big business. Amazing, then, that country music has been so little studied by critics, given its predominance in American culture. Reading Country Music acknowledges the significance of country music as part of an authentic American heritage and turns a loving, critical eye toward understanding the sweep of this peculiarly American phenomenon.
Bringing together a wide range of scholars and critics from literature, communications, history, sociology, art, and music, this anthology looks at everything from the inner workings of the country music industry to the iconography of certain stars to the development of distinctive styles within the country music genre. Essays include a look at the shift from "hard-core" to "soft-shell" country music in recent years; Johnny Cash as lesbian icon; gender, class, and region in Dolly Parton’s star image; and bluegrass’s gothic tradition. Originally published as a special issue of South Atlantic Quarterly, this expanded book edition includes new articles on the spirituality of Willie Nelson, the legacy and tradition of stringed music, and the revival of Stephen Foster’s blackface musical, among others.
Contributors. Mary A. Bufwack, Don Cusic, Curtis W. Ellison, Mark Fenster, Vivien Green Fryd, Teresa Goddu, T. Walter Herbert, Christine Kreyling, Michael Kurek, Amy Schrager Lang, Charmaine Lanham, Bill Malone, Christopher Metress, Jocelyn Neal, Teresa Ortega, Richard A. Peterson, Ronnie Pugh, John W. Rumble, David Sanjek, Cecelia Tichi, Pamela Wilson, Charles K. Wolfe
Book Description
On a lazy June morning in Mooney -- a wooded patch of sparsely populated northeast Texas -- a shiny red Chrysler sedan pulls up to the home of Lucy Hatch and Ash Farrell, depositing a teenage girl on their doorstep before speeding away. For Ash, town carpenter and musician, the unheralded arrival of the daughter he hasn't seen in nearly eight years is a life-altering shock. It's certain to further complicate Lucy's increasingly complex relationship with Ash as well, now that she has discovered she is pregnant with his child. And angry, rebellious Denny must learn to live with a father she barely knows and the stranger who now shares his life -- in a town far tinier than any that has imprisoned her before -- as they all search for that elusive common bond that will help them become, at last, that most rare and precious thing: a family.
From the acclaimed author of
The Second Coming of Lucy Hatch comes a funny, poignant, startling and uplifting novel of love and forgiveness that will remind every reader how good it is to be alive.
Customer Reviews:
Enjoyable yeading.......2007-02-09
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is light reading. Makes you stop and think about how it would be if you were in the same circumstances. Especially if you had a step-daughter.
I would highly recommend this book. Would even consider ordering another book by the same author in the future.
A knockout of a book!.......2005-11-10
WOW This book knocked my socks off. It had such character and drama and love, family all drawn it for a story of a lifetime. I haven't read the first book, but plan on making a stop today!
I do hope to find out what happens. Does Denny stay? What about the baby? What will happen with the racism in their town?
I do have to say this book touched my heart because I know what it is like to have a mom that is jealous of the father/daughter relationship. Her mom made her hate her dad, but in the end you find out the truth. Bravo. This book will have you gasping for more. There is so much going on, I just won't say here. Please go pick up your copy today!
wonderfully funny!.......2005-03-30
I loved every page. It was funny, quirky, real, sad, glad.. everything. I felt like I knew the characters personally. I didn't realize it was a sequel until after I finished it.. in 2 days! Can't wait to read all about Lucy.
Couldn't have enjoyed it more if had been about me.
Even better than "The Second Coming of Lucy Hatch..........2004-11-07
I still can't believe that Ms. Moyer was able to write an even better novel than "The Second Coming of Lucy Hatch". I can't wait to read Ms. Moyer's next novel....please tell me that I will hear from Lucy and Ash again and soon?!
Love love love this book 5+ stars.......2004-10-05
Excellent and if I dare say better then the first (The Second Coming of Lucy Hatch). I am transported into the story, the setting, and the characters.
I love the characters and even the inmaturity discribed in one review adds to the book. I find myself wishing for a relationship like the one Lucy and Ash have, the passion is something to envy.
Denny reveals a more indepth understanding of Lucy and the characters. Also she is written perfectly as a teenager, one who says things without thinking and changes her mind all the time.
This story keeps your attention and rarely offers time to put it down. I found at the end of the book, I read very slow becuase I did not want to leave the world that Marsha had created.
You will finish the book wanting more . . .
Book Description
She walked the line between sinner and saint. But when she sang, she was an angel.Her career....came the hard way, after she battle a Virginia hardscrabble childhood and broke through the all-male barriers of Nashville to make America "Crazy" for country music.Her image....flouted all the taboos. Brassy, big-hearted, sexy as hell, she dressed like a cowgirl or a call girl, swore like a truck driver, and seduced men like a femme fatale.Her money....bought her a dream house and a silver fox coat. But it was too little, too late to erase the memories of mental breakdown and marriages-or avert the tragedies to come.Her men....were lady-killers-hard-loving, big-talking country boys who would hit the bottle, let her down and break her heart.Her music....remains haunting, earthy and selling millions....even though she fought against recording her hits, "Walkin' After Midnight" and "I Fall to Pieces," because they weren't "country enough."
Customer Reviews:
The Best.......2007-09-01
This is without a doubt the best Patsy Cline biography one will ever read. It chronicles her personal and professional life in great detail. First hand accounts from those who knew her along with well-researched facts make this book a standout.
Absolutely Fantastic!.......2007-08-14
An excellent book - well researched and extremely well-written. I was very impressed with how well Nassour captured the intimate details of Cline's life. A must read for anyone interested in learning about this amazing woman and musician!
Shining Star!.......2007-08-14
Honky Tonk Angel. What can I say? If you are looking for a good read, this is the book for you. If you are looking for a personal look into the life of Patsy Cline and others, this is the book. If you are looking for photographs that have never been seen before, this is the book.Ellis Nassour shines as a writer with Honky Tonk Angel. Not only is this book informative, it is heartfelt and personal. I highly reccommend this book!
FANTASTIC.......2007-08-13
This was a wonderful book,filled with a lot of moving information about Patsy Cline. I actually felt like I knew her, and was a close friend...suffering thru her lows and enjoying her highs. It is a deeply moving and wonderful work, that is both informative and enjoyable. You will love it.
I knew Patsy was great...............2007-08-11
but this book spells it all out for you---her highs and lows, the drama that was her life. Mr. Nassour provides us with a meticulously researched and well written book on one of Country Music's greatest legends of all time!! Thank you --The book is worth multiple reads!!
Book Description
Now LuAnn McLane follows her surprise hit with Dancing Shoes and Honky-Tonk Blues. Despite her two left feet, waitress Abilene Harper joins a reality TV dance competition and cha-chas and rumbas her way into the heart of the TV audience-and into the arms of her sexy dance instructor.
Customer Reviews:
You will love this book........2007-05-08
Dancing Shoes and Honky Tonk Blues by LuAnn McLane is one the funniest and sexiest books of the year.
Abilene Harper has been content with her quite and somewhat boring life in small town Misty Creek, KY. When a reality shoe Dancing with the Rednecks comes to town she is shocked to find out that her younger brother has signed her up as a contestant. Abby is reluctant to compete but the prize money has her changing her mind. This money could really change her family's way of life for the better.
Abby's first look at her dance partner sends her blood pumping. There is nothing like smoldering Rio Martin in Misty Creek. Rio is not happy to have been tricked into this joke of a dance competition. But Abby's verve and sheer will have him thinking they have a shot at winning.
These two polar opposites send sparks on and off the dance floor. Every time one or the other tries to be business only their passions take over.
Dancing Shoes and Honky Tonk Blues is my favorite book by LuAnn McLane. The dance sequences and training made me feel like I was right their with the characters. This book is a delightfully funny. You will find yourself laughing out loud at the antics of the contestants and their family and friends. The chemistry between Abby and Rio just burns up the pages, makes you want to find a dance instructor of your own. Kudos.
fun small town drama .......2007-05-02
Reality TV arrives in rural Misty Creek, Kentucky when a ballroom dancing contest is planned. However, most of the contestants signing on take the contest seriously, but the show's sponsors are lampooning the locals as redneck hillbillies who would not know what a ballroom looked like let alone be able to perform one the dances.
Local waitress Abby Harper was going to pass as she had no doubt that she and any other "yokel" was meant to be ridiculed. However, when she learns $50,000 is the winner's prize, she signs on although her natural reticence and two left feet make her feel more like performing clown than a dancer. Her partner is Mexico City ballroom dancing champion Rio Martin. As they rehearse, an attraction ignites even as both are irate that the hosts plan this as a big joke. Led by Rio and Abby, every dancer vows to prove that the hicks can dance with the best city slickers.
This is a fun small town drama starring a delightful seemingly opposites lead couple and an eccentric but likable support cast. The romance flows mostly on the dance floor as Rio is determined to turn Abby into the darling of the cha-cha crowd. Fans will enjoy dancing step by step with this pair and the other contestants especially since the ballroom dance is the most developed "character" with the cast being predominantly two-step deep.
Harriet Klausner
Excellence from LuAnn McLane.......2007-04-20
When Abilene "Abby" Harper signs on as a contestant on the reality television show, Dancing with the Rednecks, it is mainly for a chance at the $50,000.00 prize. When she is paired with professional ballroom dancer Rio Martin, by far one of the most gorgeous men in the world, the two couldn't be more opposite. Abby lives a simple life, waitressing at her mother's diner, and she would love to be able to help her mother with some much needed renovations, and help her brother get the college education he deserves. Abby and Rio agree that the only heat between them should be on the dance floor, but as they spend several sultry hours together every day, mostly in each other's arms and with neither of them involved with anyone, it's only natural that an attraction would spark and test their resolve.
Rio Martin isn't happy about being a contestant in the Comedy Channel's dancing spoof, but after he meets Abby and sees her enthusiasm, he is determined to win. Rio takes his dancing very seriously, and will accept nothing less from Abby than her absolute best. Having been burned by another dancer, he is especially wary of getting involved with anyone and has resisted that temptation. Abby Harper, however, is a cool drink of water whose southern hospitality is just a little too tempting for Rio to resist.
Abby and Rio are polar opposites, but share an intense passion as well as the utmost respect for one another, which seems to make their differences insignificant. Abby's stubborn determination is matched by Rio's willingness to work hard in order to win this competition. This latest offering from LuAnn McLane is written in first person; her second book in this style, and is excellently written. I am highly impressed with Abby and Rio's story, and I know that readers will settle into this book very comfortably, feeling as if Abby is telling you her story. I swear that I could hear Abby's southern accent and Rio's sexy, smooth accent! Don't miss DANCING SHOES AND HONKY TONK BLUES, it is great fun and I can confidently guarantee that you'll love it.
Book Description
John Lahr is America's most celebrated drama critic, and Honky Tonk Parade is a collection of his work that illuminates some of the most compelling, elusive, and important artists of our time, who talk to Lahr with rare candor. His portraits weave together biography, anecdote, and shrewd interpretation. Included is the hilarious profile on Dame Edna Everage/Barry Humphries; his piece on Bill Hicks, which according to the comedian himself, is what finally found him an American audience; and the first in-depth portrait of Steve Buscemi.
In writing "as lively as good conversation" (Robert Brustein), Lahr arrives at truths of uncommon clarity, a claim seconded by Arthur Miller, who said that Lahr's essay on him is "by far the best thing about my stuff I've ever read." These heralded profiles, the product of his impressive work at The New Yorker, deepen our understanding of their subjects and our culture that they so profoundly reflect. Honky Tonk Parade, like the icons whose lives and work it so meticulously chronicles, corrupts an audience with pleasure.
Customer Reviews:
A Delightful Find.......2007-08-27
If you haven't read anything by John Lahr, this is a great place to start. You might become addicted. I especially enjoyed Lahr's profiles of Cole Porter, Dame Edna, and Kenneth Tynan, but I was glad I read every one of them. Highly recommended if you enjoy intelligence, insight, and style in your reading.
Brilliant.......2007-02-22
John Lahr is a profoundly talented writer and these profiles may be his best work yet.
In about ten thousand words you get a thoughtful and lively portrait of a remarkable person - but that's obvious. What makes Lahr unique is that he effortlessly achieves something more: the people Lahr portrays are performers, that is to say these folks are masters at hiding who they actually are. Lahr is unrivalled at finding these entertainers and letting them and their work speak. Each profile is full and living, a master-class in the art of the profile.
Especially remarkable are his portraits of Ang Lee, August Wilson, Bill Hicks, Billy Connolly, Dame Edna, Laurence Fishburne, Judi Dench, Tony Kushner, and Mira Nair - there are many more.
John Lahr: Honky Tonk Parade.......2006-03-03
These are Lahr's insights into show people living and dead, American and otherwise, from Richard Rodgers to Tony Kushner. Lahr's best book remains his full-length biography of Orton but here he's perceptive in short bites about performance and performers. He's assumed the mantle of Kenneth Tynan (profiled here) but not his limitless addiction to the razzle-dazzle: his profile of Judi Dench for one is less flattering than Tynan would have made it. It's Tynan minus the sugar rush. If you're already the kind of person likely to buy the book you won't learn a lot from it - but you'll have a good time anyway.
Books:
- Who Murdered Chaucer?: A Medieval Mystery
- Woody Guthrie: A Life
- A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Mooreland Indiana (Today Show Book Club #3)
- A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
- A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
- A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-first Century
- Adopted Son: Washington, Lafayette, and the Friendship that Saved the Revolution
- All God's Children: Inside the Dark and Violent World of Street Families
- American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation
- Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Sell Your Book on Amazon: The Book Marketing COACH Reveals Top-Secret "How-to" Tips Guaranteed to In
- History: Fiction or Science
- Violence, Conflict, and World Order: Critical Conversations on State Sanctioned Justice
- A Biblical Economics Manifesto: Economics and the Christian Worldview
- Capital Ideas Evolving
- Fear Nothing
- Contemporary Marketing and Consumer Behavior: An Anthropological Sourcebook
- The Paradox of American Power: Why the World's Only Superpower Can't Go It Alone
- A Different Vision: African American Economic Thought
- Medicinal and Food Plants: With 200 Illustrations for Artists and Craftspeople
Kashmere Gardens Mud
Texas State of Mind
Last of the Breed
Live Fast, Love Hard: The Faron Young Story (Music in American Life)
The Little Darlin' Sessions
