Dolly Pardon

With the embarrassing, infuriating decision by a Tennessee county school board to ban the Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus books, yet another attack on the propriety of comics as well as implicit support for fascism, I feel the need to highlight both comics and someone from this state who does a lot of good for many people, country star Dolly Parton. I just read this great anthology about her, and I think that others would also enjoy reading about various aspects of her life.

This unauthorized biography touches on so many things, including her childhood, burgeoning music career, rise to international fame, personal life, movie roles, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and work for childhood literacy. It is a relatively quick read, but it is also simply amazing as it almost encompasses all that this woman has accomplished. I very much appreciated the straight-forward, informative, and entertaining way this book hops from topic to topic in portraying a biography. I think it would appeal to Dolly fans but also for those who have no clue about the scope and influence of her life.

This fine book was edited by Liz Yerby, with art by the Sound Grounds Wreckin' Crew, a Portland, OR based collective that includes BB Andersson, Caroline Cash, Eileen Chavez, Alecia Gatlin, Kathleen Gros, Avery Jepsen-Minyardthat , Elodie Kahler, Emily Lewis, Emily Nilsson, Samantha Szabo, Morgan Thomas, Amie Wilensky and Liz Yerby. It is amazing that so many people collaborated to make this book relatively cohesive and on point.

This comic is 52 pages long, but it contains multitudes. I have not been able to locate any reviews of it online, which is a shame because I think it deserves much more attention.

Dolly Pardon was published by Sound Grounds Wreckin’ Crew. I got my copy from Birdcage Bottom Books, and they a preview and more copies available here.