Dolly Parton

I love Dolly. She is the queen of self-branding, forging a 50 year career and a multi-million dollar fortune out of looking like a blonde bimbo. Her music - performing and songwriting - aren't shabby either.

Born in 1946, one of twelve children all living in a hillbilly shack in the Tennessee mountains, Dolly - yes, that is her real name - started writing songs as a child. When she left school - the first in her family to actually graduate - she packed up and moved to Nashville, hoping to show more make a career out of her passion for lyrics and that lilting, childlike voice. The first success she made was meeting her husband, the camera-shy Carl Dean, who picked her up outside a launderette. The second was joining Porter Wagoner's TV show (their acrimonious split lead to Dolly penning 'I Will Always Love You', later recorded by Whitney Houston). Hits like 'Jolene' and 'Here You Come Again', film roles (including my favourite Steel Magnolias), her own theme park Dollywood, plus a publishing company, production company and other ventures have made Dolly a household name. Not forgetting her trademark wigs, tight-fitting glam clothing, false nails - and her most famous, very natural assets.

Randy L. Schmidt has put together a biography in Dolly's own words, collecting together key interviews from her first for Music City News in 1967, through Rolling Stone, Playboy, Cosmopolitan, to Maclean's in 2014. (Dolly did write an autobiography in 1994, but apparently wasn't happy with the end result.) Randy notes in the introduction that Dolly turned 70 in 2016, but rather than viewing this milestone as the end of her career, this compilation is more of another 'story so far...' Dolly is still recording, and still fabulous.

The interviews do tend to cover the same ground, opening with the same potted history, asking the same questions (which Dolly sometimes answers with the same soundbites), but there are some gems in there too, and more importantly, we get a true sense of this shrewd lady, who sounds so friendly but won't be tricked into telling more than she wants you to know. As one interviewer notes, 'She's just so damn different from anybody else - a self-created creature with an enormous talent and a heart just as big' show less

Take the movie Safe Haven and the show Nashville and put it in a blender? Out comes this book. There aren't too many books that fall into the "sit down to start a book and then not do anything for hours until it's finished" category for me, but this was slid in unexpectedly. It's thrilling (but not in a I'm-too-scared-to-turn-the-lights-off kind of way), exciting, heartwarming, and just good. Maybe I'll be picking up more James Patterson from now on?

Dolly Parton has moved beyond singer, songwriter and actress and is now a global icon in my eyes for her philanthropy, like the Imagination Library which sends books to children and funding for COVID-19 vaccines. This large and heavy hardcover book focuses on Dolly’s outfits and costumes over the years, from her beginnings in TV singing duets through to today. It’s a wonderfully fun and sparkly read.

The book goes through the decades one at a time, describing Dolly’s achievements at the show more time before you get to read Dolly’s take on it in the first person. It really does feel like Dolly is narrating the story about different dresses and patterns to the reader. The writing is just like how she speaks and it makes the story more authentic. The book also celebrates those who have worked with Dolly on her appearance over the years, from clothes designers to shoe design, hairdressing for wigs and makeup. As Dolly says herself, it takes a lot of money to look this cheap! Her costumes are incredibly ornate with a lot of sparkle (sometimes completely covered in rhinestones) and it’s good to be able to study the patterns close up. She also explains about her ‘sister’ outfits, similar designs but with different beading or overlays. She’s also funny, cheeky and brutally honest in her stories, which I loved.

As the book comes closer to the present, you can see Dolly’s style changing but still staying true to her. She knows what looks good on her and how to work it to her advantage. She is an amazing woman who is not only delightful but very generous. A really fun and engrossing read which is a must for Dolly or anyone who likes a sparkle or ten.

I only wish that the book had included the outfits she wears in her new cookbook with her sister Rachel (Good Lookin’ Cookin’). They are amazing!

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As the book comes closer to the present, you can see Dolly’s style changing but still staying true to her. She knows what looks good on her and how to work it to her advantage. She is an amazing woman who is not only delightful but very generous. A really fun and engrossing read which is a must for Dolly or anyone who likes a sparkle or ten.
I only wish that the book had included the outfits she wears in her new cookbook with her sister Rachel (Good Lookin’ Cookin’). They are amazing! show less

To thine oneself be true, could aptly sum up this excellent audiobook celebrating Dolly Parton's iconic and timeless style. Narrated by the icon herself, Behind the Seams takes readers on a journey through Dolly's early style, makeup, fashion, wigs, and more. Interspersed throughout the interviews are song clips and interviews with some of the designers and stylists who have helped showcase Dolly’s unique and unforgettable vision. From the Country Music Awards, The Porter Wagoner Show, show more album covers, Studio 54, and The Playboy cover – each outfit has a story to tell. Dolly Parton’s style has evolved over the years, but has always been flashy, busty, unique, and glitzy; just like the legend herself. Part memoir, part fashion manifesto, part archive; Behind the Seams is filled with humor, confidence, candor. This audiobook deserves all the rhinestone stars it can get. show less