She Come By It Natural

<p><b>SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE</b><br><br>The world can't seem to get enough of Dolly Parton. Her image is blazoned across T-shirts she burns on desks as blasphemous candles and well into her seventies she continues to grace awards stages arenas and talk shows where women of a certain age are rarely seen.<br><br>Yet not so long ago Dolly was best known by many people as the punch line of a boob joke. So what happened?<br><br>In this affectionate sharply insightful book Sarah Smarsh charts Dolly's meteoric rise against the backdrop of her working-class roots. Drawing on her own experience growing up in rural Kansas Smarsh crafts a resonant portrait of Parton's cultural importance above all for the often-unheard women who populate her songs: struggling mothers pregnant teenagers diner waitresses with deadbeat boyfriends. Candid intimate and searching <i>She Come By It Natural</i> captures the enduring appeal of this singular star.</p>