this is a fantastic story of russell's overcoming and persaverance. i think russell is probably a genius. . . aren't many these days (santana, russell, and jim carrey to name a few.) particularly interesting was russell's early years, having recently survived what i think was probably SARS I felt i could relate with the idea of struggle. buy this book, you will thank me for it!

Here we go - another biography from James Dickerson, which means strap yourself in for quite a ride. Few, if any, biographers approach their subject with such sheer relentlessness as does this Mississippi-based author.

And now he's taking on the life of Russell Crowe, one of the most enigmatic, and talented actors working today. The author knows a good subject when he sees one and a good case could be make that he's caught Crowe's life when he's getting ready to leap into full-blown movie stardom.

We learn some things about Crowe we didn't know (his Maori ancestry), some things we'd heard about (his being a musician and a darned good one) and some things about him we know all too well (his, er, gruffness). It's a handsome book and if the author had packed any more detail into these 175 or so pages, you'd have to get help picking it up.

Some say biographies don't mean much unless you have the subject's cooperation. It looks like Dickerson disagrees and we should be grateful for his attitude about his work. Without fetters or favor we get probably as close to Russell Crowe as anyone ever will -- and maybe closer.

Bravo to the bio and to Russell Crowe for being his own man. Sometimes we need guys who throw punches - and biographies like this that refuse to pull them.

This is a great book with a lot of history about all of the girls. It starts with the first Dallas street corner that the four girls, Laura Lynch, Robin Macy, Martie, and Emily played on to earn tips. I learned many things that I did not know about the girls. It is very detailed about how their success hasn't just come overnight. It took them almost a decade to get where they are now. Be sure to buy the book! Besides all of the great information, it has many pictures, old and new. Enjoy!!!

Scotty Moore is one of the unsung heroes of rock 'n roll and his writing style reflects his playing style- simple, precise and to the point. In a humble, matter-of-fact style, guitarist Moore recounts his experiences with the King in an eminently readable and interesting way. I have read many Elvis books and this is one of my favorites. After reading it, you just wished you could bump into Scotty sometime, buy him a beer and talk the night away.

Gosh, about half way through the book I began to really bond with this woman as a character and totally look at her mother and sister in a new way. Lovely, beautiful woman with sensitive, brilliant heart.

When you see a book written by James Dickerson, you'd better roll up your sleeves . The veteran reporter/author leaves no stone unturned when he takes on a subject and he's picked a great one to follow his book about Natalie Portman.

Here he checks out Ashley Judd from all angles and perspectives and does so in a fair, thorough and neat manner. It's also a flowing, enjoyable read thanks to his writing skills as he manages to weave Ashley's biography, her life and times, in and around her famous mother and sister -- Wynonna and Naomi Judd.

Dickerson likes battlers and he's got one here. Despite the success of her mom and sister, Ashley's life has not been an easy one by any means and we're swept into the passions and obstacles that helped give us this remarkable actress. We're left with the impression that Ashley Judd is just now starting to come into her own. Even though she's well-established as an actress her best work my be yet to come.

Photos enhance this book which is beautifully packaged and the cover draws you into her life. Her fans, new and old, will not want to miss this one and neither will the fans of the Judds.

As a fan of Faith Hill's music, I wanted to probe the exterior of her career and delve into the beginnings of her success. Reading more like a book report, this text does an adequate job of summarizing Faith's life up to the debut of her album Breathe. That's about as far as I'll go. I think the book really suffered on three fronts: 1) there were no interviews between Faith and author James Dickerson. If Dickerson had conducted those interviews (he cites past interviews with Faith and other journalists), he would have established his credibility. This is the biggest problem I have with this book--Dickerson just wrote a 150-page report; 2) The resources used and way Dickerson presented Faith's life seemed storybook-like. Although it does mention them, this book does a poor job at probing how Faith's roadblocks ultimately shape her course to success; 3) this is only a minor criticism, but for me, the writing was too simplistic and didn't really challenge me at all. A celebrity biography isn't supposed to have the same flow as a presidential bio, for example, but the writing could have certainly been cleaned up to make it a little more interesting.
If you're interested in Faith Hill's life, leave the book at the library and watch Faith's feature on the Biography channel. It goes quicker and is more entertaining.

Watch out Faith Hill fans. You might get a little more than you bargained for with this biography of the country music glamour queen. But then again, you might gain appreciation for her. The author tosses away the layers of glitz and fan worship for an honest, thorough look at her life and it's not always so glamourous. Childhood, marriages, and her climb up the gold ladder of the country music industry are detailed here from an honest, healthy distance. The interviews are concise and relevant and while some of her fans may not like hearing the revelations about her road, others will appreciate what a resourceful and now powerful woman has emerged. Pulling no punches brings out the best in many cases and Faith Hill's bio shines in its honesty and thoroughness. Seems she's to be admired for her survival skills as well as her beauty and music. Not to be missed.

Hello:

James L. Dickerson gave me the honour of a lifetime. He included a small contribution of my thoughts in this book about Faith Hill.

I bought the book to read it truly from end to end, but not because of my name in it, but for the story of Faith's life and her road to stardom.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and found I couldn't put it down once I began. For all of Faith's fans, do yourself a favour and buy this book. You'll be very glad you did. It also makes a wonderful gift for the "Queen of Country"!!!

Thank you James.

Diana E. LeBlanc
Memramcook, NB
Canada

I was surprised how at how few celebrities were actually interviewed for this book. There was too much space wasted on one-page photographs of the celebrity, along with "biographies" of each celebrity. More time should have been spent asking why each celebrity selected the meal they did, and they should have included a lot more people! The most interesting part were the last meals of deceased celebrities.

Good book, many new idea's for me. I recently head James was trying to do a book on Natalie Portman. I read an email asking if he could question some ppl who went to school with her. Maybe he wants to get together for dinner.

Dickerson comes up with yet another simple idea and makes it great. I was surprised at how many celebs responded to his query and delighted at the large photos. Worth the $$, especially for that person who is impossible to buy for. Hey, Mr. Dickerson, now can we have a book about Last Words?

I found this book to be nothing more than a high school-level book report on magazine articles and newspaper clippings. The fact that Dickerson himself admits that he hadn't really taken an interest in Natalie Portman until the year 2000 shows that he does not speak from any privileged vantage point. He is not privy to any special information about Natalie that would draw any intelligent reader's attention, nor does he offer any keen insight into things that even the most casual fan of Natalie Portman's would know through pop culture and the media. The fact that Dickerson fails to get substantial information from those closest to Natalie proves not only that he is irresponsible, but he lacks authority to speak on Ms. Portman as well.

This book on Natalie Portman is AMAZING. I'm not really a book reader, but this book is making me read more and more. Thank you Natalie and thank you Mr. Dickerson for this amazing book on
Natalie portman.

This is a very good and fun book about Natalie with some cool stuff about her role in Star Wars. I read it over a couple of days and now I can't wait (like I could before!) to see the movie. Nice pictures too and a learned a lot that I hadn't read in magazine articles.

There are many better books about Memphis, music, and the combined subject than this one. The author employs a ludicrous conspiracy theory, half-baked and never fully explained. For info on Memhpis Music, read Guralnick or Robert Gordon's It Came From Memphis. Stay away.

i'm not the man to make a 1000 words, but if James L. Dickerson writes them, they get you right from the start, believe you me! This is a highly entertaining look behind the scenes of american music making/industry. It also informs you quite humorous about the history of memphis politics and music. Doesn`t matter if you like jazz, blues, country, folk or rock, once you started it, you will not put it out of your hands til it's finished, at least that's how it happened to me. This was my first book of Mr. Dickerson but it will definitely not be the last. Actually i'm going to ask him if he would consider to allow me to translate it into german. To make a long story short: music lovers of the world, if you love Elvis Presley, STAX records or the blues, if you know who Chips Moman is or you want to know, order this book now cause you have to consider: it'll take them some days to get it shipped. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO LIVE WITHOUT IT AND PRAISE THE NAME OF THE LORD ! To make one thing clear: i am not getting paid by amazon, i don't have any deals with them,i didn't even buy my copy of the book from them. Love + Peace, Axel Drücke

I don't write many reviews, but when I read the May 27 review on this page, I knew I would have to say something. Anyone with half a brain knows that James Dickerson is the foremost expert on Memphis music. He has written more music books on Memphis than anyone else and he has done it with more depth and authority than anyone else.

Goin Back to Memphis was nominated for the Gleason Award, and it is the only book about Memphis music that offers a complete history. The two writers the previous reviewer mentions, Gordon and Guralnick, have written some interesting books, but neither writer has ever written a history of Memphis music. Gordon's book is mostly about the people who failed to make it in music, and Guralnick's books have either been about soul music or Elvis Presley, who recorded most of his records in Nashville, not Memphis.

I recommend this book to anyone who cares about blues, soul and rock n roll music.

This ranks among the most shallow, factually incorrect jazz biographies I have read. As someone who knew Lil Armsrong well, I was struck by how far off the mark this alleged portrait of her is. The author hasn't a clue when it comes to Lil's personality, the fabric of her life, and her place in jazz. Lil deserves better than this hack job, which I gave one star because none is not an option.

As a lifelong jazz researcher, I was indeed thrilled when I discovered the first attempt at a Lil Hardin-Armstrong bio, but I must say that this one was a disappointment. Resources for jazz research are richer than they have ever been and jazz history books are finally starting to rise to the level of quality scholarship. but that is not evident here. The author seems to have assembled much of the previously published information on Lil, drawn some odd conclusions (exposing a lack of knowledge of early jazz music) and left it at that. Lil was a significant presence in the 1920's Chicago scene and in the life of her second husband, Louis; she was a fine composer and an above-average instrumentalist. She most certainly did not, as the author suggests, write out Louis' magnificent introduction to West End Blues!
There is also a strange, and somewhat unfair characterization of Louis Armstrong in this book. While much is made of Louis' infidelities, little or nothing is mentioned of Lil's (which have been documented elsewhere). Such inconsistencies damage the credibility of the book.
I love Lil Armstrong's music, and I wish that there was a better biography of her out there. She certainly deserves better!

James L. Dickerson focuses upon Lillian 'Lil' Hardin as a
highly educated, multi-talented, and prestigious individual from
stardom in the early part of the Twentieth Century--when it was
not "cool" to be both a black female and a vocalist/instrumental-
ist--to her last recording. The biographer depicts Lil as one who
was willing to neglect opportunities that would foster her own
additional success in order to promote her husband, Louis Arm-
strong in his musical endeavors as a soloist and instrumentalist.

The conflicts in management, the shifts from city to city, and
the rocky marriage, which eventually involved "the other woman,"
took a toll on the relationship between Lil and Louis. However,
as Dickerson vividly emphasizes, Lil never lost her love for her
musical soulmate, with whom she nurtured their only child--jazz.

I don't care to write too much about this book, because it just wastes more time.

Too much effort was put into this book and it was all futile.
Not enough "real hard evidence" supports anything reported in this "tabloid" type of book.
I felt like I was reading the National Enquirer (hardback version) than a book about Elvis and his manager.

This man obviously used a lot of other people's material, from other books, and added his opinion: which doesn't amount to much.

I like Scotty Moore and what he did for Elvis, but he was always kept in the dark about Elvis' business. So his comment about how much this book was an eye-opener is expected.

This was a waste of my money, but even moreso my time.
I would rather read something more substantial.

I like to learn about Elvis from the inside out. This is unquestionably one of the best and most interesting books I have ever read about Elvis' career. It is a fascinating and enlightening insight into Colonel Parker and thus into Elvis and his career also. Dickerson's approach takes you down a road I don't believe has been explored before. He has done remarkable research into (i) what influenced and shaped The Colonel and enabled him to emerge as a revolutionary and unique manager and (ii) into the underlying cultural and political forces of the time that greatly influenced the course of this particular piece of history. If you are serious about learning about Elvis and The Colonel, Dickerson's writing makes you think; it opens doors and suddenly so much becomes clear. The first half of the book is, perhaps, kinder to The Colonel than the second half; but, above all, if you want new and interesting information and great insight into these two gentlemen (Elvis and The Colonel), this book is brilliant. This book is well worth your time and money.

FROM THE BOOKJACKET:

"James Dickerson's research has confirmed more than I ever suspected"--Scotty Moore, Elvis's guitarist and first manager

"An indendiary, powerful investigative account . . . an explanation, finally, of the twisted, corrupt relationship between Elvis and Colonel Parker"--Joe Eszterhas, best-selling author, screenwriter and former writer for Rolling Stone magazine

"This jaw-dropping biography of Tom Parker confirms what I felt for years--that the Colonel was a far more fascinating rascal than Elvis ever became. This is a model of research assembled with crafty objectivity and humor"--Hal Kanter, director of the Elvis film "Loving You"

"Here is the whole sad and amazing story of 'the most accomplished con man since Barnum.' In swift, deft strokes Dickerson has sketched the greed, compulsion, and lies that drove every decision in the making of undoing of rock and roll's greatest talent. This is the book our study of popular culture's most glittering icon has lacked"--Lewis Nordan, author of "The Sharpshooter Blues"

"This riveting biography shines a hard light on the inscrutable Colonel . . . Dickerson has made it easy to understand that if rock and roll will never die, it owes its life to how Parker wrote the rules of the game"--Mark Ribowsky, author of "He's a Rebel"