Overview
Growing up amid Kansas wheat fields and airplane factories, Sarah Smarsh witnessed firsthand the particular vulnerabilitiesāand strengthsāof women in working poverty. Meanwhile, country songs by female artists played in the background, telling powerful stories about life, men, hard times, and surviving. In her family, she writes, ācountry music was foremost a language among women. Itās how we talked to each other in a place where feelings arenāt discussed.ā And no one provided that language better than Dolly Parton.
Smarsh challenged a typically male vision of the rural working class with her first book, Heartland, starring the bold, hard-luck women who raised her. Now, in She Come By It Natural, originally published in a four-part series for The Journal of Roots Music, No Depression, Smarsh explores the overlooked contributions to social progress by such womenāincluding those averse to the term āfeminismāāas exemplified by Dolly Partonās life and art.
Far beyond the recently resurrected āJoleneā or quintessential ā9 to 5,ā Partonās songs for decades have validated women who go unheard: the poor woman, the pregnant teenager, the struggling mother disparaged as ātrailer trash.ā Partonās broader careerāfrom singing on the front porch of her familyās cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains to achieving stardom in Nashville and Hollywood, from āgirl singerā managed by powerful men to leader of a self-made business and philanthropy empireāoffers a springboard to examining the intersections of gender, class, and culture.
Infused with Smarshās trademark insight, intelligence, and humanity, She Come By It Natural is a sympathetic tribute to the icon Dolly Parton andācall it whatever you likeāthe organic feminism she embodies.
This book title, She Come By It Natural (Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs), ISBN: 9781982157289, by Sarah Smarsh, published by Scribner (October 13, 2020) is available in hardcover. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
Unlike Amazon and other retailers who may also offer She Come By It Natural (Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs) books on their website, we specialize in large quantities and provide personal service, from trusted, experienced, friendly people in Portland, Oregon. We offer a Price Match Guarantee, and QuickQuote form, to make purchasing quick and easy.
Prefer to work with a human being when you order She Come By It Natural (Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs) books in bulk? Our Book Specialists are standing by Monday-Friday 8-5 PST, ready to help!