When asked to write her first memoir, Lynn was in her early 30s: "I hadn't never done nothing with my life except sing and have babies, and I didn't think I had a life to talk about." But Coal Miner's Daughter, the story of the dirt-poor Kentucky girl who married at 14, had four of her six children before she was 21 and went on to become one of country music's most successful recording artists, captured the American imagination. In this follow-up, Lynn mostly focuses on her marriage and the trials and pleasures of Nashville stardom, including fond recollections of friends like Conway Twitty and Tammy Wynnette. Lynn admits that the passing of her husband, Doo—drunk, abusive, womanizing and yet her most loyal, trusted companion—in 1996, freed her to write more openly. There are no stunning revelations here, rather a series of small, genuine ones about family and career. Though her grammar may make purists flinch ("I thought me and Doo was no longer husband and wife just because he throwed me out"), Lynn's literary voice is as natural and endearing as her songs. Many tales have a conspiratorial tone, and Lynn is quite willing to incriminate herself ("I ain't proud of that story or this next one, but this one has such a good ending I got to tell it anyway"). Honest and always entertaining, Lynn's memoir should delight country music fans and perhaps win her some new ones. (Apr.)
