I have a very personal connection to country music. I grew up only listening to country; it was all I knew. In particular, I was always a fan of the women of country music. They taught me to be strong, independent, to not apologize just because it’s expected of me. Dolly Parton is easily the most well-known star of country music. She is beloved and pretty much always has been.

I loved reading more about Dolly’s life. A number of things in this book I already knew, but it was still fun to go through her life and watch her become an icon, especially since I wasn’t around until about 50 years after she had been making music.

I wanted the author to go a little more in depth with some of her points and felt she belabored a few too much. I appreciated hearing about the author’s family, but I wish there had been more focus on other “women who lived her music” rather than just the author’s mom and grandma. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it!

I went into this not knowing a ton about Dolly, but after reading this, she is one of my favorite humans ever. I recommend this to Dolly and non Dolly fans alike! She is remarkable and so was this book.

I'm a big fan of both Dolly Parton and Sarah Smarsh, so I was incredibly excited to read this book. It doesn't quite live up my expectations (Smarsh's debut, Heartland, is one of my favorite nonfiction books from recent years), but still worth a read for fans of either of these amazing writers.

Who’s a famous figure who intrigues you?
I find myself falling down the google rabbit hole regularly when I read a book. And this one was no exception.

Dolly Parton is a fascinating women. Born into a family of twelve children, with no indoor plumbing and an illiterate father, Dolly is the iconic example of rags to riches. She embodies female empowerment while maintaining a facade that doesn’t exude just how brilliant she is.
The author compares this with some of the women in her own life including her grandmother who was born the same year as Dolly. I enjoyed her writing, this book and her message, but now I still want more of Dolly’s story.
If you’re looking for a bit of nonfiction for #nonfictionnovember, this is a short but fascinating feminist commentary and timely with the current political atmosphere.

I thought this book would be a biography, rather than an in-depth discussion of feminism and Dolly Parton. Of course, it is hard to separate Dolly Parton and feminism, though she doesn't call it that. I went into this book looking for a biography of Dolly, but came away feeling like I didn't get that at all. This is much more of a critical work on women's rights, equality, fair pay, etc. All are important ideas to think about and to implement in a practical manner, but this wasn't what I was looking for in this book.

I"m giving it 3 stars because I couldn't find anything practically wrong with it, but I was disappointed that it wasn't what I thought it would be. I would recommend it to fans of Dolly Parton and those looking for critical works with a focus on women's rights, etc. Still a book that needs to be read, but I think I wasn't the specific intended audience for this book.

I guess I was expecting more of a straightforward biography - - more Dolly and less of the author. There wasn't much here that I haven't read before, but it was a decent book.

Who doesn't love Dolly? While I came to an enjoyment of country music late in teh game, I've really developed over the last few years an appreciation of the genre and especially for the female artists who had Dolly Parton paving the way for the women coming up behind her. This book by Sarah Smarsh, author of the incredible Heartland, was first published as a series of essays in a music magazine, and contextualizes Dolly and her influence on country music and society through the lends of Smarsh's own experiences and family. Dolly Parton has an incredible amount of influence, and I found this quick read to be super interesting. While long time fans probably won't find anything about Dolly's biography they don't already know in this, the thoughts about her role and impact will still make this worth picking up.

As much of an icon as Dolly is, I don't know much about her life. I found the biographical information in this book to be interesting and well written. However, I did not really enjoy the personal touches the author inserted about her own relatives. I understand where the author was coming from with the comparison, but Dolly is a compelling character all on her own, and Betty did not add anything to the story. I found myself skimming past any part not about Dolly until I could read more about her life.

She Come By It Natural collects author Sarah Smarsh’s four long-form essays about Dolly Parton and the beloved singer’s connections to feminism through her roots in rural poverty in Tennessee (it’s better than I’m setting it up, but that’s the basic premise).

These essays were the result of a Freshgrass Foundation journalism fellowship Smarsh won, and were published by No Depression over the course of 2017. Here they’re collected together in “slightly revised” form.

When Parton was born into rural poverty in 1946, women’s suffrage had been assured by constitutional amendment for just twenty-six years. They’d recently made economic strides amid a wartime economy but still were widely abused by a system in which the female body had few protections from assault, unwanted pregnancy, or undervalued labor. Women in poverty and women of color fared the worst, on the losing end of societal structures favoring wealth and whiteness.

Smarsh has written eloquently about her own family’s poverty and the strength of the working women in her lineage in 2018’s Heartland, so her bonafides on this subject are clear. Each essay looks at different elements of Parton’s public persona and personal identity alongside her enormously generous charitable works, and relates them to her upbringing and the influence of her early life on her values. And of course, how she forged her career, including her role as a woman in male-dominated country music, despite the men who threw obstacles in her way.

Right off the bat, one topic cropping up repeatedly is Parton’s striking, instantly recognizable appearance. As Smarsh notes, “she is a woman whose appearance provokes people to demand an explanation,” with her “signature Parton trifecta — eyebrow-raising tight clothes, generosity of heart, and a take-no-crap attitude.” Her penchant for plastic surgery and cosmetic enhancements are addressed in a way that felt more unapologetic and sensible than elsewhere.

Because of her vibrant, over-the-top look, “she received a fame laced with ridicule; during interviews in the 1970s and 1980s, both Barbara Walters and Oprah Winfrey asked her to stand up so they could point out, without humor, that she looked like a tramp.” (Et tu, Oprah?!) Smarsh draws a comparison to Johnny Cash wearing black “as a statement of rebellion against the status quo and on behalf of the downtrodden” and how he was “lauded,” but Parton’s body and fashion preferences were and remain targets for negative attention.

None of what’s covered here is particularly groundbreaking, but I found it compelling. Dolly is apparently experiencing a renaissance with a younger generation, with a saintly-styled image of the singer plastered on products celebrating strength and a general badassery, with nods at the glowing goodness that Parton evinces through holy imagery.

Smarsh relates Parton’s own anecdotes, some of which, she notes, Parton has told and retold many times over the years, and parses from them how truly revolutionary her actions were in the zeitgeist, plus the influence of her childhood in a loving family, but also in an impoverished, economically troubled region that she still seems to feel a lingering responsibility for.

All of this still feels pertinent even as far as things have come, advanced as we are now into fourth-wave feminism; for one, Smarsh notes in discussing Parton’s most iconic acting role in 9 to 5, that the movie is “still, painfully relevant” not least because “the US presidency is occupied by a man who embodies the disgusting male boss.” UGH YES. That’s exactly what he is. Straight out of the gross money-obsessed ’80s in a bad suit. “In these times, 9 to 5 feels so radical that one wonders whether it would be greenlighted by a major studio today.”

I loved learning more about Dolly, and the tear-jerking good deeds she’s done, but at the same time there’s something upsetting about it all. In 2016 Parton and her foundation spent millions helping families after the devastating wildfires in her home region, the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. What she’s done is moving; it’s also messed up that she has to step in and fill the gaps of a system that can’t or won’t adequately take care of citizens during their hardest times. She’s so well known for doing this to boost Tennessee that Smarsh notes that the essay in its current form is already outdated.

I was less enamored with the elements around the subtitle, “the women who lived her songs.” These were Smarsh using the women in her family to illustrate similar socioeconomic conditions and how women from this background worked and fought for themselves similarly, as best they could — the women who continued to live the life that Parton no longer did but still sang about. Some of these felt shoehorned in, and Smarsh writes about her family much better in Heartland.

Of course, these were meant to be briefer, and it helps that there’s a wider cultural context for all of Dolly’s behavior and accomplishments, but the combination of the two felt thin. I was always left with the feeling that if this had been an actual polished book focused more on Parton’s biography instead of a series of essays blending concepts, it could have been incredible.

More than anything it made me want to read Dolly’s own memoir, although Smarsh’s description of it sounds like it’s guarded and carefully crafted. But what a fascinating trailblazer she is. I’ve adored her since childhood in that way it seems a lot of children do, especially now as she runs Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, mailing millions of books to kids throughout their childhoods — and she’s quoted here laughingly as saying it’s because she’s a Mother Goose-type figure.

But to what must be the widest age range of fans, she’s remained an uplifting and iconic figure even though her music (43 albums!) doesn’t regularly get radio airplay, and in 2016 she had her first album in 25 years top the Billboard charts. Despite odds often against her, she’s enjoyed a massive and consistent popularity, still selling out tours and accruing new generations of fans.

This isn’t the definitive book on Dolly’s particular brand of magic, but it’s a well written, uplifting, and very informative look into it, and at the significance of some of the gutsy things she’s done in her life.

Sincere thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

'She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs' by Sarah Smarsh is a book based on the long-lead articles Smarsh wrote in 2017 for No Depression magazine detailing the personal and cultural impact of Dolly Parton. Fans of Smarsh's work will recognize her poignant storytelling and astute voice in these extended essays . Broken into four parts, 'She Come By It Natural' loosely follows the chronological career of Parton while also highlighting Smarsh's own coming of age with Parton's music and personality. Her story is deeply personal, moving, and objective. 'She Come By It Natural' is not a biography in the strictest sense, rather it is a meditation on a life and an acknowledgement of the women who have been listening to Parton sing about heartbreak, poverty, and hope for decades.

Dolly Parton is experiencing a moment right now as she is discovered by a whole new generation. Saint Dolly candles, clothing, outlines of her hair in sticker form, references to Dolly in books and movies (Dumplin; really stands out here), not to mention a hit NPR podcast, have all touched on and explored the phenomenon of Dolly Parton. However, for those of us who have always seen the kind hearted and intelligent Dolly beneath the big hair, the glitter, and the self-deprecating jokes, like Smarsh, we wonder "what took you all so long?" It isn't that Dolly isn't flashy, lord knows she has built an incredibly successful career on it, but she is so much more than her well-curated image.

Smarsh explores the paradox that is Dolly. That at once she is a "dumb blonde" and a successful business woman who never let her male contemporaries walk over her. That she lives her life the way Jesus instructed good Christians to do while looking like a fabulously cheap sinner. If you've ever been to a Dolly Parton concert, you'll see the physical manifestation of this repeated not only in Dolly herself, but in the audience as well. "Drag queens, wrinkled old people who musical worlds revolve atone the Grand Ole Opry, tortured urban teenagers wearing all black, little girls who discovered Parton through her goddaughter Miley Cyrus, groups of gay men who smell like cologne, college kids in American Apparel T-shirts that read "Dolly & Loretta & Patsy & Tammy," groups of men in T-shirts that read "proud redneck" with mud on their boots, lesbian couples holding hands, seen-it-all women watching the stage quietly, and most everything in between." (paraphrased from page 35). Whatever our backgrounds, we can all agree that we love Dolly and all of her layers.

In addition to praising Parton's career and philanthropy, Smarsh does not turn away from discussing the uncomfortable moments when Dolly has been in the public eye. Most recently, this included the removal of the word 'dixie' from Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede attraction, her cringe-worthy rap on The Queen Latifah Show in 2013, and her extreme Southern politeness that seems to smooth over uncomfortable political questions but leaves her fans wondering where she stands on today's issues. Smarsh deftly confronts our assumptions about Parton by bringing the conversation back to geography, class, and privilege. Dolly is wholly complex and human and has spent the majority of the last 40+ years in the limelight while somehow managing to avoid a scandal, deftly handling her public persona, and bringing more people together than pulling them apart. She may just be the most genuine and self-realized person on this entire planet - flaws and all. And maybe that's what does it, that in her very nature, Dolly leads by example, she can admit when she makes a mistake, she is clearly having the most fun, she is wholly herself and we love her for it.

My first introduction to Dolly was through her movies. I thought she was just gorgeous and even when I was in elementary school her big hair, rhinestones, wit, and kindness made her a reincarnated Mae West. I was enraptured. I came to her music indirectly in the early 2000s, mostly through covers of her songs by other musicians. I listened to Dolly sing to me about love, about transformation, about female agency, about loss. She covered murder ballads and reimagined folktales. She sang about growing up poor and not letting the world eat you up inside. She sang about hope. She sang about forgiveness and redemption. And sometimes she sang about revenge. She played guitar, banjo, autoharp, and the penny whistle. She knew her musical roots and never forgot where she came from.

I was lucky enough to see Dolly Parton in concert (a bucket list item for me) is 2011. It was going to be an extraordinary event. I was going to go with my mom, my aunts, and my cousins, all of us having grown-up under Dolly's influence. Fate took a sad turn though, my grandmother passed away shortly before the concert and her funeral ended up being the morning of the event. As a family we debated attending. In the end, we all agreed that to hear Dolly sing would bring back parts of my grandmother and would honor her memory. As we sat in the dark we felt so much love in the concert hall as Dolly's songs washed over us. While I love many of her songs, "Smokey Mountain Memories" is the one that will always get me, and I secretly hoped she would play it that night. It's a sad song about leaving home, working hard toward a better future, and missing your family so terribly you could die. It's a song I think about when I'm lonely, when I miss Sunday dinners with my own family that I don't get to see very often, and it reminds me of those I love that have passed away. Towards the end of an exhilarating set, Dolly got quiet, sat on a stool, pulled out her bedazzled autoharp, and sang 'Smokey Mountain Memories'. She explained that the song was about her dad who went to work in Detroit when the family needed money, but he didn't make it very long there. He missed the mountains and his people and no amount of money could make up for that deep melancholy. I sobbed heartily from our nosebleed seats. It was then that I really got it. I understood that Dolly was a storyteller, that she was making something to last beyond herself.

It is that particular feeling and understanding that Smarsh taps into so well in each part of 'She Come By It Natural'. When you read this book, and I hope that you do, may it remind you of the first time you heard a Dolly Parton song. Who were you with? Who introduced you to her music? What song is your favorite? And when you think about these things, know that every Dolly fan - no matter their background - has similar memories and stories to tell.

So, go light your Dolly Parton candles and remember, W.W. (double) D., y'all - "What Would Dolly Do?"

'She Come By It Natural' comes out today - October 13th, 2020.

This small book is about one thing: Dolly Parton is a trailblazing feminist icon whose life can be understood as a reflection of the rural working class women who would never use the word feminist.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I wish there were more. I loved the bits that put Dollys life in context of the women’s movement and the reality of rural life. I didn’t care as much for the sections about the specific women in the authors life - I prefer the wider lens. (As a product of working single women in rural Ohio & Tennessee, these stories mirror my own, and the book felt like it was telling the stories for a more privileged, out-of-touch audience).
It whet my appetite for Dolly’s autobiography.

I have to personally say, I am not a huge fan of Dolly. Country music is just not my jam, however she is somebody who interests me. I love her movie career, and I love her personal story. Although, this book is very short, Smarsh packs a lot of gems in here.

For those of you who adore Dolly, which I suspect many of you do, I am not sure you are getting any new material. What was so good about this book, is the way Smarsh laid this out. There was an emphasis on Dolly and how she is a feminist.

We get stories, of Elvis, her acting career, her music career and Dollywood. Smarsh packs in a lot of antidotes that I think will resonate with everybody. I was personally reading a lot of sections to my husband, which he was adding feedback to.

This book is best read, with a cozy blanket and something to drink. If you already love Dolly, just savor it, if you are new to learning what a force she is, go in there knowing you will be slightly better for reading this.

Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

With Dolly on the cover, I anticipated a book that gave me additional positive insights into her life. Sarah and I were both at the same 2016 concert in Kansas City. My respect for Dolly Parton was raised to a new level after that event, especially when she closed with "He's Alive!" Having Dolly close her concert in such a way affirmed her faith for me and our sisterhood in Christ. If I am to believe Sarah Smarsh, Dolly's mission in life is to uphold the most progressive of feminist principles. Along the way Smarsh attacks conservative policies wherever they might be flourishing proclaiming them to be a step backward. In an already contentious atmosphere, I was looking forward to Dolly's unifying spirit in this book. What I got was a heaping helping of "you can't truly be a woman unless you voted for Hilary in 2016." While reading this digital galley I have also been listening to Sarah Huckabee Sanders' memoir, 'Speaking For Myself.' The grace and acceptance of woman on both sides of politics flows off the page and makes listening a joy. I cannot honestly say that I enjoyed much of this Sarah Smarsh and untangling the rhetoric gave me a headache. Sorry, but I do not recommend it.

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks #NetGalley @ScribnerBooks for a complimentary e ARC of #SheComeByItNatural at my request. All opinions are my own.

Sarah Smarsh uses examples from her grandmother and facts from a previously published Dolly Parton title to reflect on the message of Parton’s songs, how Parton’s music resonated with women of Smarsh’s grandmother’s generation, and Parton’s contribution to Feminism.

How do expectations affect your reading experience?

Perhaps if I had approached, She Come By It Natural with different expectations, it might have enhanced my reading experience. I greatly admire Dolly Parton as a singer/songwriter, business woman, a philanthropist, and a promoter of literacy. I love that she quietly goes about the important job of seriously making a difference in her sphere of influence.

In her music career, Parton confidently and assertively negotiated for what she wanted in a male-dominated industry. Distracted by her looks, the men seriously underestimated her! You might be interested in Dolly Parton’s autobiography. Even though She Come By It Natural is shelved as biography, it’s more agenda driven than biographical (in my humble opinion). She Come By It Natural uses information from a previously published work plus examples from the author’s grandmother to write about feminism. This is interesting because Parton has not associated herself with a feminist agenda or called herself a feminist. It concerns me that the author might be attempting to speak for Parton. Definitely, though, Parton represents women who are unrecognized pioneers in the struggle for equality.

When I requested this book, I didn’t fully understand the focus of the book. This is a case of the cover and title made me do it! She Come By It Natural comes across (to me) as a book that uses Parton as an example to support an agenda rather than a book about Parton. If I had wanted to read a book with a feminist agenda, this might have worked better for me.

I appreciate reflecting on how Dolly spoke directly to struggling women through her lyrics, how a generation of women with little voice found theirs in Dolly’s songs, and how she maneuvered through a male-dominated industry without the benefit of a Women’s Movement.

TL;DR: If you’re interested in a biography of Dolly Parton, this might not be what you’re looking for. If you’re interested in a book about feminism with Parton as an example, this might a good read for you.

I’m giving this 2.5-3 Stars which is certainly in the “mixed bag” category. Others have loved it, so I urge you to seek out other reviews to inform your reading decision. I’m simply offering one perspective. Certainly, She Come By It Natural might appeal to Dolly Parton fans.

While this book wasn't what I expected based on the title, it's one I enjoyed. It's comprised of a series of articles Sarah Smarsh wrote in 2016 that focus on Dolly's contributions to advancing the cause of women, especially those women living in rural poverty like Dolly (and the author) did.

Throughout the book, Smarsh compares her life and those of the women she grew up with to Dolly's and the women in her songs. Though she won't describe herself as a feminist, Dolly broke many barriers in her life and career, owning her sexuality and owning her music publishing, choosing not to have children, supporting the LGBTQ+ community, writing songs about topics men considered not radio-worthy and being a quiet but passionate philanthropist. There are so many aspects of Dolly's life and career I didn't know about and while this isn't a biography, it gives a context to the impact she's made:

"Whether Parton has another groundbreaking hit or not, her entire life is now understood to have broken ground - for female artists, for poor girls with dreams, for women who would like to be bosses without hiding their breasts."

I look forward to reading more about this force of a woman who is proof that feminism comes in many forms.

Thanks to NetGalley, Scribner and the author for an advanced copy for me to review.

Dolly Parton wrote and performed songs that embodied the American working woman. Throughout this novel is illustrates the story of Dolly, while also depicting what parts of history embodied her songs. When coming across this novel, I thought it would be a story of her life and other stories to support the time period-similar to the Netflix special that was done on her. That was not the case. The author drove the issue of feminism and critiqued it throughout her songs. I felt like there was a lot of virtue signaling and I wasn't in the mood for that type of story. Dolly Parton believes in equality, not superiority, which I feel the line gets blurred a lot in feminists critiques. Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC.

This has been the year of Dolly Parton for me! I grew up with her Christmas album as the soundtrack to my Christmas but that was about it. I started getting pulled into her story little by little so I was excited when a blogger talked about this book. Having also listened to the podcast about her that came out this year, I found this to be a great companion that that. I loved some of the angles that the author took to frame Dolly and then show how her decisions over the years have been so thoughtful and purposeful. I am thankful for strong women like Dolly who can point us to a life that challenges us to push boundaries and find ways to impact our community.

3.5
Dolly Parton is everywhere these days, promoting her hallmark movies, new Christmas album and another book coming out about her song lyrics, so I was happy to be given an ARC of this title. It's well written and sprinkled with quotes from interviews she's given over the years in print and on television. The author's upbringing, with two strong women as role models, parallels Parton's life in many ways, so the anecdotal passages meshed well with the portions about Dolly.
Very enjoyable read.

An interesting book that is really 4 articles from 2016/2017. It touched on Dolly's career, business acumen, and her influence on music and pop culture. It was interesting to read about how her impoverished beginnings likely affected how she views her own feminism. The author mostly compared her own family's life to that of Dolly's. I was expecting there to be more stories told, based on the subtitle of the book. That being said, it's quick and fairly interesting read. The 4th section/ article was my favorite of the bunch.

I love Dolly Parton and I love being an outspoken feminist. This book applies the basics of feminism to Dolly's music. It read like a thesis.

A deeper look at Dolly was done earlier this year on a podcast - which I highly recommend. I'm sure Sarah Smarsh has a huge writing career ahead of her but I do find this to be...just okay.