TL;DR: A fantastic biography of the one and only Dolly Parton.
Source: NetGalley, thank you so much to the publisher!
Setting: By and far I appreciated the care the author took with East TN in this and how it shaped Dolly and why she lives and loves this area.
Readability: This is written for anyone, not dense or dry at all.
Summary:
In Ain’t Nobody’s The Life and Times of Dolly Parton, Martha Ackmann chronicles the life of an American Original. From her impoverished childhood in the Smoky Mountains to international stardom as a singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman, and philanthropist, Dolly Parton has exceeded everyone’s expectations except her own. During a time when the Beatles set the standard for contemporary music, Dolly appeared on a local country music television show that her high school classmates thought was pure cornpone. The day after her high school graduation, she boarded a bus for Nashville, but record executives turned her down. One said her voice sounded like a screech owl.
When Dolly finally got her foot in the door, her talent and focus catapulted her to the top of country charts, the pop world, and movie stardom. Yet her success came at a price. Shunned by many in Nashville who saw her ambition as a betrayal of her country music roots, Dolly became the target of death threats, lawsuits, and a judge who threatened to throw her in jail. She nearly collapsed on-stage and later succumbed to depression that pushed her to the brink, but she refused to be counted out and came back stronger than ever developing Dollywood, the amusement park that became the economic engine of East Tennessee, and founding the Imagination Library that provides free books to children around the world. Her philanthropy to health organizations led to creation of the Moderna COVID vaccine. And, finally, she returned to her roots, recording bluegrass albums that became the most celebrated of her unparalleled 60-year career.
Ain’t Nobody’s Fool is a deep dive into the social, historical, and personal forces that made Dolly Parton one of the most beloved and unifying figures in public life and includes interviews with friends, family members, school mates, Nashville neighbors, members of her band, studio musicians, producers, and many others. It also features never before seen photographs and unearthed documents shedding light on her family’s hardscrabble life. More than anything, Martha Ackmann’s fresh and animated new book proves Dolly Parton knows just who she is and she ain’t nobody’s fool.
Thoughts:
I’ll admit, I am a Dolly fan (though not exceptionally hardcore about it). I grew up in East Tennessee, not far from where she did, and my family visited Dollywood regularly all my life. She’s been one of those celebrities we know, and we all collectively love but I never fully understood why till I was an adult. As an adult I still obviously love Dolly. We take my daughter to Dollywood, we benefited from her Imagination Library, and her work to bring jobs to the area has of course helped the community at large. So I could be very biased here in saying I loved this.
There is a very easy trap everyone falls into when writing (and in general, thinking and talking about this area) and that is assuming everyone here is a bit dumb, slow, or ignorant. While I’ll agree we have those types, for the most part we’re just like everyone else and Martha did her work. She writes with respect to the people here, even those that might fit the stereotype. She writes not only about Dolly but about historical events here, cultural traps and feelings. She finds and uses the correct vernacular, and does so with care.
Dolly is an icon here. Not perfect by any stretch, but respected and intelligent and our author illustrates that wonderfully. As someone who is a casual lifelong fan I’d say this a great pickup to introduce you both to Dolly and where she comes from. It’s accessible as well, easy to read and understand for those that don’t usually read non-fiction. A great biography, clearly I loved it.
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