Woody Guthrie: A Life by Joe Klein
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Book Reviews of Woody Guthrie: A Life
Book Review: Head to the Record Store!
Summary: 5 Stars
As a child of the 60's and 70's, I held the rather myopic view that my generation invented rebellion, cynicism and their voice in music. Not so! Joe Klein's masterful telling of Woody Guthrie's story reveals the musical tradition of the folk song as a means of political activism long before Bob Dylan and the rest. Woody Guthrie's wonderful, painful life is detailed with careful attention and astute observation. Mr. Klein does not spare us the unsavory irresponsiblity of this hobo, nor does he turn us away from the tragedy of his illness and death. Instead, through the words, letters, and memories of Woody, his friends, and detractors, Joe Klein gives us a protrait fo a flawed, resolute singer of our songs and in the process, presents a bit of our history that was never covered in my textbooks! Not an easy read, but a mesmerizing story. My next stop is the record store (or is it CD store?)!Book Review: America: A Life
Summary: 5 Stars
I undertook this as an antidote, or chaser, let's say, for the superficial, cheerleading, and ultimately cloying "The Incompleat Folksinger" by Pete Seeger. It turned out to be better than the last eight biographies I've read, far better than most of them. (For the record these are: "Carl Sagan: A Life in the Cosmos" by William Poundstone, "Carl Sagan: A Life" by Keay Davidson, "Stephen Sondheim: A Life" by Meryle Secrest, "Various Positions: A Life of Leonard Cohen" by Ira Bruce Nadel, "Gyorgy Ligeti" by Richard Toop, "Lou Harrison: Composing a World" by Leta E. Miller and Fredric Lieberman, "Glenn Gould: The Ecstasy and Tragedy of Genius" by Peter F. Ostwald, and "Glenn Gould at Work: Creative Lying" by Andrew Kazdin.) It turned out to be a biography of America as much as a biography of Woody Guthrie, and I recommend you read it whether he particularly interests you or whether he doesn't.Book Review: An unflinching look at America's most important Songwriter
Summary: 5 Stars
I first picked up a copy of this book after Bruce Springsteen mentioned during a concert that he had read it and loved it. It inspired him to sing a very sad and mournful rendition of This Land is Your Land and to explain why it was really an angry song and not at all the happy little ditty we remembered from childhood. That was a fitting introduction to this book of his life which was also not a happy little ditty. Woddie Guthrie's life and music speak to more than just Folk Music fans and I hope more younger folks pick this book up, read it and as a result give his music a listen. If you want to hear Bruce's comments on this book, they preceed his performance of This Land is Your Land on his Live performance Boxed Set. I highly recommend listening to NEBRASKA and THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD while reading this book!!Book Review: "America comes spilling out"
Summary: 5 Stars
This biography is stunningly and painfully intimate. Joe Klein did a fantastic job. This is a great read.Guthrie is a tremendous American icon who not enough of us actually know about or perhaps have even heard of. He was a thousand contradictions. In his art and in his life, in his outrageous, childlike, precocious, brooding, energetic, and endlessly subversive behavior... he was just utterly himself, he embodied a particular American brand of freedom in life, outlook, and sense of possibility.
Even if you haven't got time to read this book, make sure the kids around you know all the verses to "This Land Is Your Land". You may not agree with the politics but it's worth knowing what the man actually said, it makes you think.
Book Review: So long, it's been good to know ya...
Summary: 5 Stars
I concur with the majority of reviews of this book. I have owned my hardcover copy for many years, and I've read it three times. Joe Klein did a good job. For most people, there is more here about Woody, his times, his friends and his foes and his sorrows than they will want or need to know. However, I must also advise true fans to consider buying another book, "Woody, Cisco and Me" by Jim Longhi. That one depicts only the WW II adventures when Woody and his friends took jobs feeding the crew and troops on merchant ships crossing the Atlantic in l943. It shows a side of Woody that Joe Klein's work does not, and both books should be read or owned by people with a serious interest in this wiry, weird genius.