Soul Serenade : Rhythm, Blues & Coming of Age Through Vinyl (Paperback)

from abealy

In this harsh but inspiring memoir, Rashod Ollison shares the pain, the rejection and the ultimate triumph of his adolescent life growing up in black urban poverty in 1980's Arkansas. Music - the powerful, affirmative soul of Aretha Franklin, Bobby Womack and so many others, discovered on the vin...

from altima313

A memoir from debut author Rashod Ollison reflecting on his youthful upbringing in Arkansas. The subtitle is what drew me in: Rythm, Blues and Coming of Age Through Vinyl. A distant but loving mother who moves around frequently and a missing father. Ollison describes the influence of music introd...

from quaintlittlehead

Given Ollison's background as a music critic and the title and subtitle of this book, I expected music to be a much more central component. Instead, this is what might be called an "overcoming of age" story of how the author comes to terms with his family, his race, and his sexuality. The musical...

from JerseyGirl21

I loved this book! It's one of those that you don't want to put down, he writes with such honesty and sometimes humor. And in the end you realize how important a father is in a young mans life and how music helped him cope. The hard worker and person that his mother had to be because her childhoo...

from Frank_Juliano

Music critic Rashod Ollison creates a vivid memoir of a childhood made difficult by poverty but also by a mostly-absent father, a harsh mother who seems to belittle her son at every opportunity, and Mama Teacake, the grandmother from hell. And yet Ollison is able to escape, to be transported thro...