Like countless musician profiles, Bossmen utilizes a standard interview question and answer format; but it's as if Jim Rooney were the first writer to actually hear what these men were saying about their their lives, their art and the cost they paid for their brilliance. The result is an extended conversation with two American icons that reveals far more about each than any work previously or subsequently. Rooney manages to honor the work and the power of the men who created it without lapsing into careless adoration. This is a great book about American music in particular, creativity in general. It was a crime that the work of Muddy Waters and Bill Monroe was neglected for so long and it's a crime that Rooney's book is out of print.

Talk about an antidote for naive optimism and idealism! This an outrageously accurate sociological portrayal of life as it is lived by most who would earn a living playing a musical instrument. Most people outside the music profession only know its idealized "public face," a view of the lives of a few successful individuals projected by the media allied educational and recording/distribution industries. However, life is not good for the lower classes. If you are a student trying to sell your parents on supporting your music education, be sure to keep them from reading this book! And if you are a freelance musician, you may not want to confront the brutal realities that in these pages portray, since you are probably trying your best to cope with them. The author collected the data on which this study was based while I myself was freelancing in the Washington, DC area. I recognized the events and could pretty much guess at the individuals referred to in the case studies. I highly recommend this book, but it is so expensive that I would recommend you try to find it in a library. Vocational and guidance counselors will find it useful. Perhaps the price is so high because of a vast conspiracy between the music schools and recording industry to keep this kind of information out of the hands of students, current professionals, and the general public! :)

Dr. Rooney's, "The Lame Horse" is one of my favorite horse books. It's extremely informative, and readable. But he confuses opinion with fact. Dr. Rooney wrote a comment about chiropractic that simply isn't true--that is--the horse's vertebrae don't move and can't move with spinal manipulation. Dr. Rooney points to his "post-mortem" proof and defies the reader to move a dead horse's vertebrae even in the absence of muscle spasm. Well, what about rigormortus? True, a dead horse's spine cannot be moved, but a live one could--same holds true with a person. So, Dr. Rooney, stick to horse lameness. You're good at that. But leave your opinions about chiropractic at the gate--or at least do your homework. Unqualified statements made in a book puts a cloud on the stuff that is qualified.