A classic American success story, country music singer and actress Dolly Parton started out in a two-room shack in the Tennessee mountains and now has her own theme park. Alanna Nash's updated biography covers the early years fronting Porter Wagoner's band, and the subsequent solo career that had critics in Nashville wondering if the five-foot singer with the outrageous figure and the mountain of blonde hair wasn't heading off in the direction of pop music. Nash depicts Parton as a determined woman with an unflaggingly bright, companionable disposition-a personality that can handle numerous accolades (Grammy Awards, American Music Awards, and membership in the Country Music Association Hall of Fame) and disappointments (her 70's TV show) with sincere amusement.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
Alanna Nash understands the country mind, and this book proves again that she can write about it. (Tom T. Hall )
Pop music fans will flip over this in-depth study of the voluptuous blond singer-songwriter… (Publishers Weekly )
Nash, who has written several biographies of country-and-western singers, here offers a 1978 portrait of Delly Parton....This edition includes new photos and a new chapter updating Parton's story. (Library Journal )
Pop music fans will flip over this in-depth study of the voluptuous blond singer-songwriter… (Publishers Weekly )
Nash, who has written several biographies of country-and-western singers, here offers a 1978 portrait of Delly Parton....This edition includes new photos and a new chapter updating Parton's story. (Library Journal )
About the Author
Alanna Nash is the author of Behind Closed Doors: Talking With The Legends of Country Music and a country music reviewer for Entertainment Weekly. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
Alanna Nash is the author of Behind Closed Doors: Talking With The Legends of Country Music and a country music reviewer for Entertainment Weekly. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
Alanna Nash is the author of Behind Closed Doors: Talking With The Legends of Country Music and a country music reviewer for Entertainment Weekly. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
25 Year Old Book Barely Updated!!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Dolly: The Biography (Paperback)
I can't believe this 1978 book has been reprinted exactly as it was 25 years ago with only a tacked on chapter for the last 25 years!!! Not one word from the original book appears to have been changed, thus you get long dead people like Marty Robbins being quoted as if they were still around, even the forward is the same as it was in 1978 comparing Dolly to Farrah Fawcett and Cheryl Tiegs!!! First time readers might think they have fallen into a time warp as the book is written in the present tense much like a magazine article (which made the book dated VERY early on like say 1980). It's pretty shocking to read chapter and chapter on 1977 and 1978 and then bam - one chapter for 1979-2003!! The book itself wasn't so great even in 1978 - Ms. Nash has a very bad habit of quoting "anonymous insiders" thoroughout the book many of whom make comments that Dolly is making bad career decisions and suggest she is about to mess up her career big time! Even these ridiculous comments were not deleted from this new (sic) edition!! Ms. Nash can be downright catty herself at times, especially to Parton's first biographer who put out a paperback the year before and whom Nash ludricously blames for a lack of participation by the Parton family with her book. (Nash wrote a rather nasty article for WRITER'S DIGEST after her book came out that claimed in essence Dolly tried to sabatoge her book, Ms. Nash fails to make any comments of the kind here in her "update" chapter.) The repackaging of this old book with a recent cover photo of Dolly must be considered the literary equivalent of all those endless low-budget CD reissues of those very early teenaged tracks of hers like "Letter to Heaven" and "Making Believe" (cheapie productions that don't even sound like her) that are found in dollar stores. Alas, this publisher expects the consumer to cough up quite a pretty penny more than those budget CD companies. If Alanna Nash wanted to bring this book back into print she should have rewritten it so it would make sense to a 2003 reader, instead it's just an tacky and lazy attempt to make a few extra bucks from the never ending public fascination with the great Dolly Parton!!
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A treasure!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Dolly (Hardcover)
For anyone even slightly fascinated by Dolly (and who ISN'T?), this book gives rare and detailed insights into the life and mind of a true music icon. Ms. Nash shares not only facts and history, but "up close and personal" information gleaned from her own interactions and time spent with Dolly. A rare opportunity to glimpse the life and persona of this musician who continues to grip the music industry throughout the decades...Dolly's ongoing and unrelenting "star status" illustrates her enduring charisma that never ceases to perpetuate the adoration, fondness, and loyalty of fans and the American music scene. Despite the fact that this republishing of this book reveals relatively limited updates and leaves the reader wanting even MORE, the biography is and remains a classic that stands the test of time...much like Dolly herself!
5.0 out of 5 stars
DOLLY by Alanna Nash,
By Jeff Schrembs "Jeff Schrembs" (Washington DC area) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Dolly: The Biography (Paperback)
DOLLY, written by Alanna Nash, is a fun read and sheds great insight into the person and the personality known as "Dolly".I enjoyed this book and found it to be an honest and interesting account of one of the greatest songwriters of all time...and performers. DOLLY, like the performer herself, leaves you (simultaneously) satisified and wanting more. What more could one ask of a book? Dolly: The Biography
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