Smart Blonde Dolly Parton

Synopsis: An updated edition of the first new and substantial biography for over 15 years. Stephen Miller goes behind the larger-than-life image to find out what really makes Dolly Parton tick. What emerges is a unique portrait of a strong woman who came to town looking like a burlesque hooker but who took control of her life, her music and her career with resolute determination.

In this revised edition of his definitive biography of Dolly Parton, Stephen Miller has updated his original book on the superstar. Going behind the larger-than-life image to discover what makes Dolly tick, Miller gets to the core of a remarkable woman from a poor East Tennessee background who made it in the male-dominated world of Sixties Nashville and went on to build a respectable movie career. Talking to Dolly's family members, musicians and producers, the author explores Dolly's private life, including her closely-guarded relationships with her husband of nearly fifty years, Carl Dean, and her lifelong friend Judy Ogle. What emerges is a unique portrait of a strong woman who took control of her life, her music and a successful business career with resolute determination. Dolly loves making jokes at her own expense; perhaps the best joke has been how one of America's great singer-songwriters became a legend by being serious about her music while being frivolous about her image. Dolly has been a huge star five decades. Her ability to pull in and delight large crowds remains undiminished - as many fans old and new discovered at the world's biggest open air festival in 2014.

Born in poverty in Tennessee, Dolly Rebecca Parton had ambition and determination in spades. Her first single, the ironic Dumb Blonde, launched the now legendary career of a singer-songwriter with a pure country voice and a gift for story-telling. Smart as a whip, Dolly Parton shrugged aside the male-dominated world of Nashville to command her own destiny, creating huge business enterprise in the process: She owns Dollywood theme park and other hospitality venues; she has hosted her own television programs and appeared in films with Jane Fonda, Burt Reynolds and Sylvester Stallone; her Imagination Library project sends free books to children all over the world – For Dolly, dreams are everything and nothing – you gotta roll your sleeves up and get stuck in. Collating interviews and encounters with Dolly Parton from 1967 onwards, Not Dumb Not Blonde proves just that. As in her songs, she is unfailingly entertaining, frank and feisty. These are the words of an artist and performer who, beneath the bravado, is deadly serious about her music and career, and this duality proves to be a touching, insightful and joyous read.

Born in a little cabin in Tennessee, Dolly Parton always dreamed big, and she was right to! She wrote her first song at age five and became a country music star by the time she was in her early twenties. Of course, her success didn't stop there. Dolly Parton is also an actress, author, businesswoman, and philanthropist whose "Imagination Library" reading initiative reaches children throughout the US, Canada, and the UK. There is simply no one like Dolly Parton!

The Foreword Indies Gold Medal Winner that “analyzes Dolly Parton as a performance art project designed to subvert gender and class expectations” (Shondaland). Dolly Parton is instantly recognizable for her iconic style and persona, but how did she create her enduring image? Dolly crafted her exaggerated appearance and stage personality by combining two opposing stereotypes—the innocent mountain girl and the voluptuous sex symbol. Emerging through her lyrics, personal stories, stage presence, and visual imagery, these wildly different gender tropes form a central part of Dolly’s media image and portrayal of herself as a star and celebrity. By developing a multilayered image and persona, Dolly both critiques representations of femininity in country music and attracts a diverse fan base ranging from country and pop music fans to feminists and gay rights advocates. In Dolly Parton, Gender, and Country Music, Leigh H. Edwards explores Dolly’s roles as musician, actor, author, philanthropist, and entrepreneur to show how Dolly’s gender subversion highlights the challenges that can be found even in the most seemingly traditional form of American popular music. As Dolly depicts herself as simultaneously “real” and “fake,” she offers new perspectives on country music’s claims of authenticity. “A valuable contribution to studies of celebrity, gender, music, media, and popular culture that should be useful to scholars working in any of these areas.” —Celebrity Studies “A stellar exploration of how Parton deftly balanced traditional country aesthetics with her willingness to rebel against those same trappings by completely owning her image and how she performed her femininity.” —Bearded Gentlemen Music

Debby Campbell writes her story of a father and his devoted daughter from her heart, and from her diary. She has shared some of the most rewarding years in her father's life. And now, for the first time, she blows the lid off all of Glen Campbell's family secrets. It is about a family bound together by Glen's talent, and ultimately torn apart in the name of money and power.

The legendary Dolly Parton shares her heartfelt hopes and dreams for everyone. Expanding on the popular commencement speech Dolly Parton gave at the University of Tennessee, Dream More is a deeper and richer exploration of the personal philosophy she has forged over the course of her astonishing career as a singer, songwriter, performer, and philanthropist. Dolly elaborates on the four great hopes she wants us all to embrace: Dream more, Learn more, Care more, and Be more. She offers examples from her own life, from her childhood in the hills of eastern Tennessee to her life as the iconic performer she is today. From one of the legends of our time, Dream More is an honest, funny, and uplifting anthem for all who want to take charge of their lives and forge a future on their own terms.