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She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs Audiobook
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Publisher Description
In this Time Top 100 Book of the Year, the National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author of Heartland “analyzes how Dolly Parton’s songs—and success—have embodied feminism for working-class women” (People).
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).
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“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…Listeners will feel like they’ve just had a fascinating conversation with an enthusiastic friend.”
— AudioFile
Quotes
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“Smarsh anoints Parton a badly needed beacon: in a divided country, she remains that rare someone who everyone can love.”
— Time -
“Parton is endlessly quotable and fun to read about.”
— Harper’s -
“Smarsh analyzes how Dolly Parton’s songs—and success—have embodied feminism for working-class women.”
— People -
“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 -
“Smarsh tells Parton’s story through the eyes of women who grew up in rural America struggling to make ends meet.”
— Spokane Spokesman-Review -
“Luminescent prose and briskly tempered storytelling make for an illuminating take on a one-of-a-kind artist.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Awards
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A Time Magazine Best Books of the Year selection
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A Washington Postn Pick of the Month
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Nominated for the Reading the West Book Award
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Nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award
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An Amazon Editor’s Top Pick
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About Sarah Smarsh
Sarah Smarsh has covered socioeconomic class, politics, and public policy for the Guardian, VQR, NewYorker.com, Harpers.org, Texas Observer, and many others. She is currently a Joan Shorenstein Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. A former professor of nonfiction writing, she is a frequent speaker on economic inequality and related media narratives.