Título: Brother Robert: Growing Up with Robert Johnson
Autor: Annye C. Anderson
Sinopse: A Rolling Stone-Kirkus Best Music Book of 2020
“[Brother Robert} book does much to pull the blues master out of the fog of myth.”—Rolling Stone
An intimate memoir by blues legend Robert Johnson's stepsister, including new details about his family, music, influences, tragic death, and musical afterlife
Though Robert Johnson was only twenty-seven years young and relatively unknown at the time of his tragic death in 1938, his enduring recordings have solidified his status as a progenitor of the Delta blues style. And yet, while his music has retained the steadfast devotion of modern listeners, much remains unknown about the man who penned and played these timeless tunes. Few people alive today actually remember what Johnson was really like, and those who do have largely upheld their silence-until now.
In Brother Robert, nonagenarian Annye C. Anderson sheds new light on a real-life figure largely obscured by his own legend: her kind and incredibly talented stepbrother, Robert Johnson. This book chronicles Johnson's unconventional path to stardom, from the harrowing story behind his illegitimate birth, to his first strum of the guitar on Anderson's father's knee, to the genre-defining recordings that would one day secure his legacy. Along the way, readers are gifted not only with Anderson's personal anecdotes, but with colorful recollections passed down to Anderson by members of their family-the people who knew Johnson best. Readers also learn about the contours of his working life in Memphis, never-before-disclosed details about his romantic history, and all of Johnson's favorite things, from foods and entertainers to brands of tobacco and pomade. Together, these stories don't just bring the mythologized Johnson back down to earth; they preserve both his memory and his integrity.
For decades, Anderson and her family have ignored the tall tales of Johnson "selling his soul to the devil" and the speculative to fictionalized accounts of his life that passed for biography. Brother Robert is here to set the record straight. Featuring a foreword by Elijah Wald and a Q&A with Anderson, Wald, Preston Lauterbach, and Peter Guralnick, this book paints a vivid portrait of an elusive figure who forever changed the musical landscape as we know it.
Contexto da obra
Como livro em inglês, esta obra costuma ganhar também uma camada própria de interesse editorial e linguístico. “Brother Robert: Growing Up with Robert Johnson”, de Annye C. Anderson, publicado pela editora Hachette Books, em 2020 e com 224 páginas, integra a categoria Livros em Inglês. Por isso, o interesse da obra tende a se ampliar quando o leitor considera também a relação com a língua em que ela circula.
Editora: Hachette Books
Páginas: 224
Ano: 2020-06-09
Edição: Illustrated
Linguagem: en
ISBN: 0306845261
ISBN13: 9780306845260
Sobre a editora
Os livros da editora Hachette Books costumam oferecer experiências de leitura marcadas por narrativas intensas e pessoais, que transitam entre memórias de músicos e figuras públicas, relatos de superação, e investigações detalhadas de histórias reais. O catálogo privilegia obras que exploram trajetórias de vida com tons que vão do íntimo ao social, como memórias de artistas do rock e do metal, histórias de justiça criminal, e relatos de batalhas pessoais e coletivas. A linguagem tende a ser direta, com ritmo que ora se concentra em relatos vívidos e emocionais, ora em análises profundas e contextualizadas, sem perder a fluidez. Há uma clara preferência por temas ligados à música, biografias, justiça, e histórias de transformação pessoal e social.
