Author/narrator Sarah Smarsh’s blend of family stories of strong women and cultural insights makes her the best choice to narrate her anthropological profile of Dolly Parton. Expanded from her serialized articles for the music journal NO DEPRESSION, Smarsh’s work covers the highs and lows of Parton’s career, ranging from the boundary-pushing social content of her songs to her notable business acumen. Smarsh’s slightly Midwestern inflection attests to her rural upbringing and the experiential feminism she’s witnessed in working- class women who’ve never heard of Betty Friedan. The academic discourse interwoven with stories of Smarsh's grandmother will appeal to fans of Sarah Vowell and music history podcasts. Listeners will feel like they've just had a fascinating conversation with an enthusiastic friend. S.T.C. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs
Narrated by Sarah Smarsh
Sarah SmarshUnabridged — 4 hours, 33 minutes
She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs
Narrated by Sarah Smarsh
Sarah SmarshUnabridged — 4 hours, 33 minutes
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Overview
Growing up amid Kansas wheat fields and airplane factories, Sarah Smarsh witnessed firsthand the particular vulnerabilities-and strengths-of women in working poverty. Meanwhile, country songs by female artists played in the background, telling powerful stories about life, men, hard times, and surviving. In her family, she writes, “country music was foremost a language among women. It's how we talked to each other in a place where feelings aren't discussed.” And no one provided that language better than Dolly Parton.
In this “tribute to the woman who continues to demonstrate that feminism comes in coats of many colors,” Smarsh tells readers how Parton's songs have validated women who go unheard: the poor woman, the pregnant teenager, the struggling mother disparaged as “trailer trash.” Parton's broader career-from singing on the front porch of her family's cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains to achieving stardom in Nashville and Hollywood, from “girl singer” managed by powerful men to self-made mogul of business and philanthropy-offers a springboard to examining the intersections of gender, class, and culture.
Infused with Smarsh's trademark insight, intelligence, and humanity, this is “an ambitious book” (The New Republic) about the icon Dolly Parton and an “in-depth examination into gender and class and what it means to be a woman and a working-class hero that feels particularly important right now” (Refinery29).
Editorial Reviews
★ 06/29/2020
In this affectionate and astute cultural study, Smarsh (Heartland) shines a light on Dolly Parton’s struggles and path to becoming the queen of country music. Smarsh narrates Parton’s life: born in 1946 the fourth of 12 siblings on a small farm in east Tennessee, Parton weathered poverty and her parents’ divorce through her deep love of music and her desire to be a star. She left on a bus for Nashville when she was 18 with three paper grocery bags of her belongings; over the course of three years, Parton made a small name for herself through gigs as a backup singer and on morning radio shows. She scored her first top 10 hit in 1967 with “Dumb Blonde,” a song whose theme of a woman being smarter than a man who underestimates her characterizes much of her later music. It’s a sharp narrative (originally published as a four-part serial in the music magazine, No Depression) as Smarsh illustrates that even when Parton conquered the man’s world in the mid-1980s, she was still treated as less capable than men in the industry. So she created her own world: she opened her Dollywood theme park in 1986; started her own publishing company in 1993; and founded Imagination Library in 1990, which donates books to children. Smarsh’s luminescent prose and briskly tempered storytelling make for an illuminating take on a one-of-a-kind artist. (Oct.)
One of Time’s Top 100 Must Reads of 2020
"Parton is endlessly quotable and fun to read about, but [She Come By It Natural] is also enriched by its glimpses into Smarsh's Kansan family. . . Knowing when to fight back and when to cut your losses is, in Smarsh's account, a talent shared by Parton and many of the working-class women she has immortalized in song and onscreen."
—Harper's
"Growing up, Sarah Smarsh was surrounded by the type of women Dolly Parton so often sings about: impoverished women in rural America who use both their smarts and sexuality to get by as best they can—often despite the men who would hold them back. These women populated Smarsh’s 2018 memoir Heartland, a National Book Award finalist. And in her stirring, insightful collection of essays about the country music icon, she gives them and Parton their due for redefining womanhood even as their class and culture worked to keep them down. Smarsh anoints Parton a badly needed beacon: in a divided country, she remains that rare someone who everyone can love."
—Time
"Like Parton herself, Smarsh’s treatment is so much deeper than what appears on the surface ... Smarsh tells Parton’s story through the eyes of women who grew up in rural America struggling to make ends meet ... A new generation is just now realizing the power of Parton’s music. Some certainly will find out about it because of Smarsh’s book, which tells Parton’s story and puts it into step with our times."
—Spokane Spokesman-Review
"Smarsh doesn’t pretend that Parton was ever a spokesperson for the [feminist] movement. She was something more meaningful: not a mouthpiece but a model."
—The New Yorker
"Combining tribute, memoir and social commentary, Smarsh analyzes how Dolly Parton’s songs—and success—have embodied feminism for working-class women."
—People
"As she did in her 2018 memoir, Heartland, Smarsh offers a feminist take on America’s rural working-class women who eschew the term “feminism.” The author looks at how songs by Dolly Parton and other country-music performers illuminate stories of women who might otherwise be overlooked: tired waiters, pregnant teenagers, spurned wives, loyal daughters."
—Washington Post, 10 Books to Read in October
"She Come By It Natural is a praise song for the cultural icon, but what emerges from an examination of Parton's life and work is just how much relevance her lyrics have had — for Smarsh and for other women — and why so much of the book is so deeply personal. . . . The fruit of that devotion is a tribute to the woman who continues to demonstrate that feminism comes in coats of many colors."
—Los Angeles Times
“[Smarsh] skillfully illustrat[es] how [Parton's] music speaks to women, especially those from a lower-class background,”
—Bookreporter
“She Come by It Natural is the latest—and best, and most affecting and convincing—component of what appears to be, at long last, the Great Dolly Parton Renaissance.”
—The Ringer
"Passionate, smart, and earnest."
—AirMail
"Sarah Smarsh expertly explores the overlooked social contributions of women . . . . [An] inspiring tribute to Dolly Parton herself."
—CNN.com
"Smarsh explains that Parton’s full legacy is much deeper and more rewarding than it might seem from casual listening."
—Kansas Pitch
"Throughout the book, Parton and Smarsh are in unspoken dialogue with one another, sharing common language and struggle through the beauty of country music."
—Wilamette Week
"Dolly comes vividly to life in [the book's] pages ... a serious, not worshipful but something better, deeply respectful critical portrait ... She really is as sharp and as complicated as we’d begun to suspect."
—Shawangunk Journal
"She Come by It Natural will appeal to a wide range of readers who are curious about Parton. Smarsh finds a sweet spot between biography and memoir that lets her move nimbly between her personal affection for Parton’s impact on women’s lives and her journalistic analysis of Parton’s artistry, business acumen, and iconic role in our quick-changing zeitgeist."
—Chapter 16
"[She Come By It Natural] includes sharp social commentary and well-placed personal anecdotes, [and] is at its heart a love letter both to Parton and to the women who continue to see themselves in her songs."
—ShelfAwareness
"Smarsh seamlessly weaves her family’s experiences with Parton’s biography—triumphs and shortcomings alike—and cultural context. She Come by It Natural is, as a result, a relatable examination of one of country music’s brightest stars and an inspiring tale of what women can learn from one another."
—BookPage
"Smarsh and Parton are a perfect pairing for the kind of in-depth examination into gender and class and what it means to be a woman and a working class hero that feels particularly important right now."
—Refinery29, most anticipated
“We will always love reading about Dolly Parton,”
—Yahoo! Life
"Affectionate and astute ... Smarsh’s luminescent prose and briskly tempered storytelling make for an illuminating take on a one-of-a-kind artist."
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A highly readable treat for music and feminist scholars as well as Parton's legion of fans."
—Kirkus Reviews
“Readers get the impression that Smarsh read and listened to the artist's every word and watched every filmed second of her in order to recreate Parton here in fine, sparkling form. Smarsh's range as a storyteller (much like her subject's) makes this the best kind of American story, one of a person so extraordinarily vast that we find room for ourselves, too.”
—Booklist
"A warm-hearted journey into what Dolly means to generations of women who saw their lives reflected in her songs, who first embraced her not as a star but a sister."
—Elizabeth Catte, author of What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia
09/01/2020
In early April 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic gained steam, country singer Dolly Parton donated one million dollars to Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) to support coronavirus research. It wasn't her first gift to VUMC, and it was far from the first time she'd donated funds to a cause she deemed important. Yet a moderately viral Tweet declared, "It sounds like a gag." As Smarsh (Heartland) makes clear, such reactions to Parton's generosity aren't uncommon—as are similar responses to her music, her brand, and, in particular, her physical appearance. Despite that, Parton's decades-long career boasts an impressive talent, a strategic business acumen, and a large and diverse fan base, many of whom would otherwise claim to dislike country music. That kind of popularity is rare, especially for a musical genre frequently treated with derision. Part memoir, part tribute, the book is less about Parton's music than her identity and how she has embraced and uplifted it to the inspiration of many. Smarsh's insightful reflections on her experiences growing up in poverty on a Kansas farm are a springboard to discuss feminism, gender, sexuality, class, and race from an angle that is often ignored. VERDICT A thoughtful musing on the significance of Parton's work and success, and those she inspires.—Genevieve Williams, Pacific Lutheran Univ. Lib., Tacoma
Author/narrator Sarah Smarsh’s blend of family stories of strong women and cultural insights makes her the best choice to narrate her anthropological profile of Dolly Parton. Expanded from her serialized articles for the music journal NO DEPRESSION, Smarsh’s work covers the highs and lows of Parton’s career, ranging from the boundary-pushing social content of her songs to her notable business acumen. Smarsh’s slightly Midwestern inflection attests to her rural upbringing and the experiential feminism she’s witnessed in working- class women who’ve never heard of Betty Friedan. The academic discourse interwoven with stories of Smarsh's grandmother will appeal to fans of Sarah Vowell and music history podcasts. Listeners will feel like they've just had a fascinating conversation with an enthusiastic friend. S.T.C. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
2020-08-18
A journalist and bestselling author pays tribute to country music legend Dolly Parton (b. 1946).
Before her recent elevation to the status of universally beloved icon,” writes Smarsh, Parton “was best known by many people as the punch line of a boob joke.” This book, based on essays the author wrote for No Depression magazine in 2017, explores Parton's musical and cultural contributions. It also tells stories about the women so often at the heart of Parton's songs. Bent on becoming a star, she left for Nashville after high school. But she faced many challenges as an attractive woman working her way to the top. Parton's breakthrough song, “Dumb Blonde,” released in 1967, foretold the attitude a largely sexist country music industry took toward the singer, especially in the early part of her career. Her first industry mentor, Porter Wagoner, for example, recognized Parton's musical talent, but he tried to use it to serve his own “thunderous ego.” The quick-witted grit that helped her endure would later come out in the characters she played in hit Hollywood films like 9 to 5 (1980). Smarsh argues that this "humorous bravado" arises not just from Parton herself, but from the "culture of working-class women" she represents. The singer’s savvy is also as much sexual as entrepreneurial. The author shows how Parton used both to reach success—and not just in music: She has said that Dollywood is “the most lucrative investment she ever made.” Her influence is now so pervasive that she has become a cross-genre inspiration to young artists like hip-hop star Nicki Minaj. Though not a self-identified feminist, Parton exemplifies the "unsurpassed wisdom about how gender works in the world" that Smarsh believes is part of the working-class female experience.
A highly readable treat for music and feminist scholars as well as Parton's legion of fans.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940177076737 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Simon & Schuster |
| Publication date: | 10/13/2020 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
| Sales rank: | 945,536 |
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